Anger

I was at a conference last weekend. A friend of mine introduced me to a lady by telling me that she has the most beautiful labyrinth on her property. I told her that I has started building one also, but I never finished it. She asked ‘why not’. My answer came out of my mouth before I could even think about it. “I started it in anger.” At the time, I was very angry at several things in my life, and digging in the ground seemed like a good channel for that anger. Hauling the bricks around, raking, I enjoyed being able to let my body move, hurt and sweat. It was good for me. At the time, I thought my anger would be helpful in getting me to finish this small labyrinth for me to spend time in a walking prayer. This comment to a complete stranger helped me understand something.
Anger has a place in life. It helps protect us, it gives us energy to confront injustice. It is something that we should see as a normal part of our lives. As a child, I was never allowed to express my anger. Instead, I turned it inward. One person told me that most adolescents with drug addiction problems usually have a great deal of anger under that addiction. I am not sure why our culture, especially that Southern culture decided that anger was a bad thing. “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” Ugh!
Ok, back to my labyrinth. It is sitting behind me, overgrown with weeds, only 2/3 complete. It sits as a reminder to me of something. Anger, once fully expressed, usually runs out of energy. It seems to be self-limiting. I wonder what a new labyrinth will look like when I start it with peace.