We have too much anger in our lives, anger that is stoked by television news, social media sites, and newspapers. Society has faced many times of trial, what some have called the hot winds of war. Born in the middle of World War 2, I lived through the struggles of the Civil Rights movements of the 1950s and 1960s, the Vietnam War, and the medical emergencies created by Polio, AIDs, E bola, and now Covid. All life is filled with these problems.
Unfortunately, I have also lived through many struggles in church leadership. I remember times when women could not be ordained ministers and priests, or when Gays were not pure enough. And my goodness, we now experience a rise in leadership both in the church and in politics with people of color. What’s next? Open and affirming churches that welcome anyone in, no matter what lifestyle they live . . . oops, these are already with us. I happen to belong to a very open and affirming church. Isn’t that wonderful? As I look to the future, I am encouraged that finally we as people of humanity are beginning to realize that every creature created by God is worthy to be called brother or sister.
All of the above negative thoughts and practices create a hidden anger living beneath the surface of society that periodically raises its ugly head to disrupt any progress, creating problems, creating hate. I fail to remember where I read this, but someone once said that problems are just solutions in disguise. The more we muse on this, the more we realize the truth of this simple sentence. I pray that we can solve present and future problems by recognizing how foolish negativity is.
One sure way of cooling the effects of this negativity of power and greed is to bring God back into the life of community. It is up to us to share the genuine self of God’s unchanging hand of Love.
We struggle to understand God, understand why there is pain and suffering in the world. But we cannot concentrate on these negative thoughts and practices. We will never understand God’s purpose if we avoid accepting the intimacy that God offers. We fear the unknown, and God can be one of the most mysterious unknown parts of our lives. However, we must recognize the light of Truth at the end of any tunnel.
We live in an unfair and unequal world; it seems that all news is harmful. It is understandable that we are filled with anger, but anger will not help us. It is only through the love and presence of the flicker of God in our lives that we can avoid having the hidden anger affect us. All we must do is change this small flicker into the roaring fire of Love.
© Russell Kendall Carter
Meditating to Heal 