Faith - xana

For many years I have noticed that anger frightens Christians with a special place reserved for women’s anger. From ‘angry black women’ to ‘emotional and irrational women’ there is a consistent negative tag attached to it.

7 years ago I chose to research anger for my Master’s thesis; but alas it was turned down; my supervisor said it was ‘inappropriate’. I changed the topic and my proposal was readily accepted. A theologian from The Circle https://circle.org.za/ cautioned me that researching a topic that didn’t resonate with me was unsustainable; she was right.

Speaking to a friend she pointed out the biblical prophets were angry, Jesus got angry and so did Paul.

On an old piece of paper, I still have St Augustine’s quote stuck to my office cupboard door:

“Hope has two beautiful daughters.

Their names are Anger and Courage.

Anger at the way things are and

Courage to see that they do not remain the way they are.”

On Friday night I attended a CAC (Center for Action and Contemplation) webinar hosted by Brian McLaren and Richard Rohr. The topic? – What Do I Do with My Anger?

Here are some of my notes: (to be clear: the anger discussed specifically excluded destructive and malicious anger.)

Valarie Kaur (activist and author) purposefully uses the word ‘rage’ (not anger) in her books; she explained that rage is a fierce form of anger and an embodiment of outrage; it is only when we process rage in safe containers that we can return to love and compassion.

Richard Rohr encouraged us to hold the paradox of Divine Anger and My Anger and let them inform one another; he highlighted that anger is a sense that something is wrong, in our lives, in our culture, in the world, and that in anger there is a deep sense of sadness. Rohr points to a pattern we can find when reading the prophets of the Bible: rage moves to sadness, and then to forgiveness i.e. love and compassion.

Brian McLaren pointed out that anger helps us speak truth to power and create solutions on how to bring restoration and a better tomorrow.

Carmen A Butcher (lecturer at Berkeley University) offered practical ways to cope with anger such as taking a break from social media which scatters, triggers and agitates us 24/7, go a for a walk, appreciate nature; check-in with yourself and practice mindfulness; always remember to love yourself and God, and then go out and love the enemy. Butcher reminded us that anger must be constructive and … it is always painful.

Richard Rohr’s book The Tears of Things is out. Here’s the trailer https://thetearsofthings.com/#trailer

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^{One of the clearest teachings about Christian service is found in the book of James 2:14-20 (NLT):}

^{14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? 15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?}^{17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.}^{18 Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”}^{19 You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God.[f] Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. 20 How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?}

^{The message is clear: faith without works is dead. There is only one kind of saving faith – the one that bears the fruit of good works.}

^{Paul summed it up in his letter to the Ephesians 2:8-10 (NLT):}

^{8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.}

^{The theological tweet goes something like this: you are saved by grace for good works.}

^{We cannot have true faith without corresponding good works.}

^{God does not love us because we are good; we are good because God loves us.}

^{Faith without works is bribery.}

^{Works without faith is slavery.}

^{Faith with works is Christianity.}

Tag: Faith

Anger

The theological basis for Christian service