The seven deadly sins: otherwise known as the capital vices;
pride, greed, lust, jealousy (envy), gluttony, anger and laziness,
are named deadly because they are serious obstacles to divine life,
and can lead to spiritual death; separation from God.
They are also the origin of many mental health issues, where
the problem has been ignored or denied, gone underground, but still
continues to create problems for the person. The disturbance, the lack
of inner balance, will manifest itself in different ways, the person might
seek help in the medical profession and be assigned a psychologist,
counselor, or/and be put on medication to reduce the symptoms.
So we can see how unawareness of how
they affect our spiritual and mental health is a serious issue.
Anger often has it's origin in hurt; this is a feeling, regardless of it's
justification, and from this feeling anger is often created.
Anger is a strong energy. It can be utilized in a creative and life giving way,
but if anger is out of control it is deadly. It can literally lead to death.
If it is expressed in words, it can kill love instantly, relationships, trust, but
also as we know, uncontrolled anger often causes people to physically kill
other persons.
The regular random attacks on the population; in schools, shopping malls, or
anywhere, are manifestations of uncontrolled rage.
Anders Breivik, for example, who shot and killed 77 innocent people in
Norway, was as a child hurt by his mother, (who was herself a victim of abuse),
and to put it simply; this turned into uncontrolled rage.
He needed to take revenge for the damage done to him; the target can be almost
coincidental; even though he had chosen a political and ideological target;
what was the most important was the release of the energy, because it became
to much to contain.
It is the same process as people who practice self harm; cutting and hurting
oneself, which reduces the internal intensity; as it is channeled outwards and
gets a chance to manifest itself on the outside, it makes them "feel better",
restores balance.
I knew somebody who all her life carried unresolved anger stemming from
feelings of having been rejected as a child, feelings of hurt.
This energy surfaced regularly, almost anything or anybody could trigger it.
Anyone who became a target could forget about the friendship; she would cut
you off and you would never see her again.
She was also very impatient, she was often unwilling to listen, in addition;
and quite unnecessarily, she had been put on medication, and the end result
was that she took her own life.
Bitterness can come out of anger, and also
desperation; the loss of hope, which can lead many to suicide.
All these sequences are created inside the person; it is their own creations,
maintained by the repetitions of their own thoughts which sustains and
nourishes it.
Thoughts are words, unspoken words.
Words have the power to create and to kill.
Prayers are words too.
The prayers of the Church are codified phrases and expressions which
should be repeated every day, and must not be changed.
They are not a coincidentally randomly put together collection of seemingly
incomprehensible mumbling.
With repetition and patience the power of their words and the accompanying
gradual awakening to their meaning will eventually penetrate to our brains
and enlighten us.
We begin to see that everything the Church teaches in regard to our fall from
grace is true, and due to our obstinate continuation in leading sinful lives,
by refusing to convert = change, we perpetuate it and pass it on to the next
generation.
The most powerful weapon we have is our tongue; our words.
Our words are incredibly powerful.
Yes, anger is a deadly sin, no matter what the causes or the origin of it.
It destroys and kills. As it is literally in us, like a heavy blanket wrapped
around our heart: our soul, it separates us from our true selves and from God.
This HAS TO BE acknowledged by us, we must be aware of it, admit it, and
manifest this awareness outside ourselves, in order that it can COME OUT.
Recognizing the harm it is causing in our lives, in our families, our communities.
Confessing it to the priest.
If everybody did this psychologists and psychiatrists would be out of work.
Our willpower, bodies, minds, feelings, reactions, opinions, our situations;
forms the material we are using when we practice the Faith, they are our tools.
It is not just by putting in an appearance at Mass, or going on pilgrimages;
that alone does not make anybody a Catholic.
This is why we say that the Catholic Faith is an embodied
faith; it is a lived experience, including our crosses. Jesus showed us,
and He told us that if we want to be His disciples we have to pick up our own
crosses and follow Him. Our human nature does not want this, it will let us
know it's opposition, resistance and even revolt to it, but the Catholic Faith is
not a natural (pagan) religion, it is supernatural.
No comments:
Post a Comment