Anger, Injustice and Pain

The word ANGER has been in my thoughts this week.

Last Monday someone I met with challenged me about anger. I was angry that she felt I was angry! What was I angry about? Is anger an emotion I am comfortable with? Yes. No. What was it all about? Admittedly there were some things on my mind that I was wrestling with. I didn’t want to acknowledge how angry I was about them.

On Tuesday at “the whatever” which Mike Todd leads, his wife Sue spoke about anger and how God feels about anger, how God gets angry, and the fact that God’s anger is related to injustice.

I chewed on these thoughts for the evening and they were there as I went to sleep. Why had this subject of anger been in my thoughts, and why was I fighting them?

Mike has an article about an amazing young woman in Pakistan who has survived against all odds. Culturally she should have killed herself after being gang raped, to protect her family honor. I read this article When Rapists Walk Free. Anger – I feel angry at the injustice of those who hold the power, and sorrow, as well as admiration, for this woman who has fought back, in spite of her pain.

A nine-year old girl Rumanian was brought to Canada by a Canadian Dr and his wife. As she left Rumania her citizenship in that country was revoked. After spending 6 months in Canada, for some reason that no one can explain to this day, this nine-year old Rumanian girl was put on a plane, alone and like a package, shipped back to Rumania, her birth country. Her citizenship in that country was revoked when she left 6 months earlier and as she never applied for citizenship in Canada (she was only 9!) she is not a Canadian citizen. She is now 21, has a child of her own and is a woman with no identity. Rumania denies she was ever there, Canada denies any responcibility in assisting her. She cannot apply for work, for medical care and had no voice to fight her cause. Only recently has an Irish journalist brought her case to the attention of those who can fight on her behalf. The rejection first by her birth family and then by her adoptive family, acerbated by poverty and neglect have left this woman deeply emotionally damaged. Anger – I feel anger at the injustice of those who hold power and sorrow for this young woman who is desperate for an identity.

W-FIVE had a program this weekend on European women arriving in Canada, with a propery entry visa granted by our Government, allowing them to work as exotic dancers. After much pressure and publicity on this subject this visa entry program has been resinded. A blind eye is simply turned on these women who are white slaves in our country. These women are smuggled illegally into many countries. They arrive in Canada legally but are still forced to surrender their documents and be held hostage in this “free” world. At the end of the road they are forced into various forms of prostitution. Anger – I feel angry at the injustice of those who hold power and sorrow over the pain of this exploitation.

Every day there will be more cases that trigger God’s anger because injustice has taken place.

As I have looked into my own heart this week I have realized that often our anger is connected to pain. Pain that we carry as a result of injustice. For so long I have felt that God was angry with me with the events that have caused deep pain in my life. As I awoke last Wednesday morning, the shalom of His presence was in the room. A weight had been lifted from my soul. For the first time I actually knew, in my head and in my heart, that God was not angry with me for the events that have caused such pain. He was angry at the injustice, and I felt the compassion and tenderness of unconditional love.

Anger, injustice and pain. God feels them all. So do we.