Embarrassment, shame and concern fill me as I witness Trump’s actions. Even stronger is a powerful sense of outrage. My recent learning about the life-giving energy of this state has been eye-opening and energizing.
Being outraged is different from its close relative, being enraged.
Outrage is healthy, sustainable and transformative.
Gandhi was outraged by British colonialism, but not enraged.
MLK was outraged by segregation yet he did not embody anger or hatred.
Outrage is driven by a truly moral impulse.
For Gandhi it was Satya, Truth; for MLK it was Love – His Beloved Community.
Outrage transcends self-interest and stands-up to transgressions against our shared humanity. More than opinions, beliefs or politics, it is a life-energy guided by Truth and Goodness (Love). It calls for “right action” without demonizing others. Surprisingly, empathy and kindness live within outrage.
Rage and anger are biological warning signs that something is deeply wrong. Once the message is received, sustaining those states is counterproductive. Prolonged rage and anger damages health, weakens immune systems, leads to burn-out, and produces unhelpful actions.
Rage boils, making us hot-blooded and often vengeful.
It is more about self than about life.
Standing up for life and standing up for self are radically different.
My body sense of each state is quite different: outrage lifts me up, it is a forward/outward energy that makes me want to act and correct what is wrong.
It’s neither hot like anger, nor cold like hatred, it is warm.
Its purpose is to protect Life.
In outrage, it is crucial to differentiate between actions from actors. When I focus on a person (like Trump) my heart closes, with dark, sometimes violent, thoughts. I become hateful. Casting anyone out of my heart diminishes my heart – I pay a huge price. Focusing on his behaviors, I feel inspired to stand-up for a different way of being in the world.
Why is this so Important?
The positive, moral energy of outrage helps us in two ways:
1. It transforms the debilitating energy of anger/rage into something life- giving and purposeful;
2. Without it, we risk getting stuck in the mud of hopelessness, helplessness, and resignation – each of these is deadly for our life forces.
Acknowledging the Rage
This morning, I awoke very unsettled, with a sad/angry, heavy heart. I realized that the place in me that sometimes feel enraged needed acknowledgment. We have so many voices/places within us and all need our awareness, though not all need encouragement. This is the power of taking responsibility for our attention. There are moments when the destructive, disrespectful, and dangerous actions/attitudes of the U.S. government are just too much. Taking care of that place, when it arises, is intelligent inner ecology.
Many of you know the famous story of the wise Native American Grandfather looking out on a valley with hundreds of sacred buffalo that have been slaughtered by the U.S. army:
Grandson: Grandfather, grandfather, what do you feel?
Grandfather: I feel like there are two wolves fighting in my chest.
Grandson: Who are these wolves?
Grandfather: One wolf is full of hatred and rage and wants to kill.
The second wolf knows that my true nature lives in harmony, never destroys life and has faith in Great Spirit (Wakan Tanka).
Grandson: Which wolf will win?
Grandfather: The wolf that I feed.
I have known this story for many years, this is the first time I am actively working with it in my heart.
Remember Not-Knowing and the Long-view
We never fully know “what leads to what”. So often, as the wheel turns, we are surprised by life. Not-Knowing brings equanimity and resilience – a clear, healthy mind. As Gandhi and MLK modeled for us, moral commitment to transformation takes the long view of change. Praying for guidance, they often did not know what to do next. They could sustain their vision toward Truth and Love, within that not-knowing and the long view. In the words of MLK: “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
Everything is a temporary turning of the great wheel of life.
People are suffering right now, losing jobs, separated from family, countless injustices. My heart is heavy as I feel deeply for and with them. I’m exploring what actions might help. At the very least, I can contribute helpful thoughts, words and actions to our shared field. Fueled by outrage, I am listening for direct ways to stand up to this horrific onslaught of anti-life behaviors and attitudes.
For Nothing Is Fixed, by James Baldwin
For nothing is fixed,
forever, forever, forever,
it is not fixed;
the earth is always shifting,
the light is always changing,
the sea does not cease to grind down rock.
Generations do not cease to be born,
and we are responsible to them
because we are the only witnesses they have.
The sea rises, the light fails,
lovers cling to each other,
and children cling to us.
The moment we cease to hold each other,
the moment we break faith with one another,
the sea engulfs us and the light goes out.
Nothing is fixed.
Change is the way of things.
Not-Knowing is essential.
Standing up for:
The Good
The True
The Beautiful
Is our Commitment
To our children’s children