DANGER OF ANGER

 DANGER OF ANGER

 

Around the Year with Emmet Fox

 

April 26

 

“Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar,

and there rememberest that thy brother

hath aught against thee;

Leave there thy gift before the altar,

and go thy way;

first be reconciled to thy brother,

and then come and offer thy gift”

Matthew 5:23-24

 

Indignation, resentment,

the desire to punish other people,

the desire to "get even,"

the feeling "it serves him right";

all these things form quite an impenetrable barrier

to spiritual power.

Jesus says that if you are bringing a gift to the altar,

and you remember that your brother

has anything against you,

you must put down your gift

and go make peace with your brother;

when you have done that,

your offering will be acceptable.

Jesus builds up this tremendous lesson

in the Oriental tradition.

He says first that whoever is angry with his brother

shall be in danger;

second that to be hostile to another,

is to be in grave danger;

and finally, that to hold so low

an opinion about a fellow creature

as to consider him outside the pale,

is to shut ourselves off from any hope of spiritual fruit

while we remain in this state of mind.

What Jesus said was that

whoever is angry with his brother

under any circumstances is in danger.