To Vent or Not to Vent, That Is the Question

I begin with a poem by a public domain poet entitled, "Take My Life and Let It Be" then slide into a chapter from my book, A Holy Hodgepodge entitled, "To Vent or Not to Vent," and I finish with one of our songs (poetically narrated), "The Happy Song," with lyrics by Eva Zarley. Happy New Year!
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Anger is a powerful emotion. When Satan seizes his opportunity, because we've held some things back from the Lord, thinking we could handle things our way, he beckons it to come through us. Like a mammoth boulder crashing down a mountainside, it can crush everything in its path. When allowed to seethe, like the bubbling mud pots in Yellowstone National Park, small, seemingly harmless bursts of steam and gas permeate the days--discoloring the surroundings. Anger is of the flesh. Anger is the devil. But, upon closer analysis, anger is not really anything to get upset about. It is Satan causing us to misinterpret what is really happening. That's all.  

Satan trips us up so that we misinterpret something, which then allows that mammoth boulder to crash down the mountainside, destroying everything below. It is merely a twisted view that causes the steam and gasses to burst through our muddy lives and discolor our world. 

Mr. Spock, in the old Star Trek series, was always thought of as cold and maybe even heartless. That was the judgment of others in the plot. In his own way, I always felt there was a lot of love in him and his loyalty to the captain could not have been greater. Rarely, however, did you ever see Mr. Spock get angry. Why? Because of his strong sense of logic. He simply did not feel anger was a pragmatic approach to whatever problem was besetting him, in each episode. He would rather spend his energies finding a solution. He would rather spend his time solving the problem.  

Is it possible we could receive a mind-meld by Mr. Spock, the next time we feel we are attacked and maybe his logical mind could help us "reason" our way through it? Just joking! We don't need to imagine a "mind meld" with Mr. Spock, when we can have the mind of Christ. Jesus is the ultimate picture of calm and cool collectedness in the face of impending doom. He slept in the sea-tossed boat during a raging storm. When the fearful disciples woke Him, He merely told the storm and seas, "Peace, be still." No crisis there! 

Anger is often just a reaction to fear. We are not victims. Hard as it may seem, there is no time when anger comes upon us without our permission. Yes, anger is a choice. A choice we are making to focus on the deceiver instead of on the Lord. Once we realize we have chosen to become angry, it is easy to not choose that as an option the next time. The key, however, is not to try to suppress it once the choice was made. Suppressing anger merely puts us in denial and causes other problems later. Suppressing anger is like trying to put a cork in a volcano. For a while, things will appear to simmer down but then BAM! Our whole world blows up like Mt. Saint Helen all over again. It's best to never let anger kindle. 

Here is some advice on how to keep anger from poisoning our mind, our environment, indeed, our whole world. We must recognize what is happening when there appears to be no other reaction we can have to a circumstance. Satan has restricted our mind, he has it in a headlock and won't let go. Our Lord, dwelling within, would ask us to take a deep breath and ask Him to show the situation to you. Tell Him you want to see things through His eyes, not your own. Jesus will tell you that it is not an attack against you that is taking place. It is, in fact, a call for love. Ask for th

Chapters

• 0:12 Take My Life and Let It Be (version 2)
• 3:02 To Vent or Not to Vent, That Is the Question
• 12:23 The Happy Song - poem