Hope’s Beautiful Daughters…
It is alleged that St Augustine said that hope has two beautiful daughters, anger and courage. Without these, Augustine argued, hope comes to nothing. Why these two daughters? (And although off the point, why daughters? Don’t we usually see anger and courage as male qualities? Clearly Augustine didn’t, and perhaps his 5th century wisdom should cause us to reflect on where we most often spot valid expressions of anger and courage). Returning to our question – why these daughters? Take anger… Instinctively we default back to the status quo. While we might quietly wish that things...
Read MoreRedeeming Emotions…
Most studies of emotion suggest that there are seven basic human emotions, and that in one way or another, all emotions fit within the categories of anger, anxiety, surprise, trust, grief, fear and love – well that’s Diane Raymond’s list. Humintell suggests they are anger, contempt, fear, disgust, happiness, sadness, and surprise – so there is some overlap, although they are hardly identical lists. Apparently a combination of basic emotions leads to secondary emotions. Thus another site (which suggests there are six not seven basic emotions – happiness, anger,...
Read MoreAnger for the rest of us… Redeeming Emotions (2)
The first post in our redeeming emotions series looked at the anger of Jesus, and the way he used it redemptively. I imagine many who read it thought – ‘all very well for Jesus. But what about anger for the rest of us? Is there any way that it can move from the deficit side of the ledger to being a positive in our life?’ It is a pertinent question. We live in an angry age. It may show itself in very obvious ways – family violence, warfare, bullying. Other forms are more subtle – sarcasm, cynicism, depression (which is sometimes anger turned inwards) and our...
Read MoreAn Angry Jesus? Redeeming Emotions (1)
Not sure which emotions you would rank as the most destructive. I suspect that hate would be right up there, as would jealousy, bitterness and yes, I imagine, anger. It is not hard to see why we would include anger in the list. It wears out our bodies, being linked to hypertension, heart disease and strokes – but it is not just about what it does to us. Being in the orbit of an angry person is at best uncomfortable, and in some circumstances can be terrifying. Which forces us to ask the question, ‘What are we to make of the “angry Jesus” portraits we find in the...
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