Fr Jim Cogley
There are very few of us, who while growing up, didn’t have ample opportunities to develop a negative view of anger. If there was anger in the home that was expressed it was something we came to fear. If it were there but not expressed it made us feel uncomfortable, and something we wanted to avoid. If we expressed it ourselves by throwing a tantrum, or losing our temper, the chances are we got punished. which carried the message that anger is wrong and should never be expressed. In some cases children were sent to their room, sometimes with the door being locked, and this conveyed a powerful message that anger was something that should be locked away. Then in school, until very recent years, it was certainly not safe to express any level of anger without being seriously punished. Is it any wonder that this very natural emotion became so outlawed and that we would still be having great difficulties with it?