Vials of Passion : From Wrath to Love

Anger is transformative, and it is often the peak state we reach before we truly change our lives. This is because anger is not intended to be projected onto someone else; rather, it’s an influx of motivation that helps us change what we need to change within our lives. When we do not see it as such, we tend to bury it, not ever resolving the real

But the wrath of the Old Testament God is of a piece with the resurrection of the New: It is the will and the power to change the normal or customary course of things. Furthermore, it is the source of, and in some cases the sanction for, our human power to do the same.

But to divest God of wrath out of deference for those abused by anger is ultimately to salve their wounds with despair. It is to describe a God so benign as to be indifferent, so slow to anger that he is always late to save.

Anger accumulated through self-suppression is a tense residue of closure, a kind of waste product, worthy of release. This kind of anger can become toxic, hurtful, and destructive. But spontaneous anger born from care and alive as love can act as a passionate thunderbolt of heart awakening, shocking and opening lovers to their heart-core.