Angerday

We saw "Catch a Fire" on Saturday night. I recommend it. The movie explores the fine line that rests between revenge and justice during the time of apartheid in South Africa.

It made me think about the Iraqis. Perhaps this was part of the intention of the producers considering the cast includes Tim Robbins.

Specifically, the Iraqis that have suffered by losing relatives or friends as a result of the war. Maybe they were killed or murdered in a tragic unjust way or worse.

The sense of wanting to enact revenge can creep in. The movie shows how the innocent honest person turns into the terrorist because they are seeking revenge. Revenge in this case is the only form of justice that is available. In a situation defined by chaos, there really is no justice. Certainly this would be true for Blacks in South Africa during the reign of apartheid, and with the level of violence that we read about on a daily basis, it is true in Iraq right now.

Allow me to segue here.

Anger presents us with two possibilities.

Anger can move in the direction of destruction or violence or revenge. The energy of anger grows and deepens. You can lose you intelligence as a result. All you see is the quality of anger, its color in your mind.

There is a brilliant side to anger or at least a brilliant side that it points to. This requires an honest examination. Perhaps the energy of anger could move towards harmony and removing the qualities that cause anger. Finding the thing that can switch the negative to positive. After all we become angry when there is a small or large disturbance in the harmony of our life, some kind of friction.

Here's the problem. You can have this understanding, but what do you do when your opponent is only willing to go in the direction of the destructive side? You can be forgiving, loving, kind, wise, and still be carried off and beaten.

It is a complex problem and the answer seems to lead back into the sense of one's own values and understandings. How would you hold up to torture?

Artwork - The Hiroshima Panels by Maruki Iri and Maruki Toshi