Anger’s Gift

This frightened the woman, but she thought it over and decided that her pack was small and nothing in it was very valuable so maybe the ogre would leave her alone. She continued on her journey and entered the forest.

But as she walked she began to think about the things in her pack. “Even though the things in my pack may not be valuable to anyone else, they are valuable to me. I hope the ogre does not try to take them because I would hate to lose them.” The more worried she became, the more she began to feel like someone was stalking her in the darkness of the forest.

Suddenly a hand reached from the bushes and grabbed her pack, so she began to struggle to hold on to it. But she quickly realized it was not worth being manhandled by the ogre and decided to just let him take the pack. When she stopped struggling, the ogre stepped out of the darkness to look at her face to face. She gazed back with as friendly an expression as she could muster, hoping that perhaps the ogre was not so terrible after all and would not harm her.

“Come with me to my home where I live and I can help you with that heavy pack,” the ogre said to her. The woman tried to set aside her suspicions of his intentions and agreed to go with him. She followed him deep into the forest and entered his home, where he offered her a meal. As they ate, he told her his story. “I live here all alone and am lonely,” he said. “When I see someone coming through the forest carrying a pack, I try to help them by taking their pack off to find a way to lighten the load for them. But they always fight to keep their pack and we end up struggling such that they and the people with them get hurt.”

As she listened she began to feel that perhaps she could trust the ogre. “I’d like to help you,” the ogre continued. “That pack is too heavy for you to carry; there is probably something in there you should get rid of. If you let me look I can find something useless in your pack and get rid of it. In return I will give you something much lighter but more valuable to take with you.”

Although she had her reservations, the woman let him rummage through her pack until he found something and took it out. With a twinge of regret she realized that she was much attached to the article he had chosen, as she had owned it for a very long time and it was virtually a part of her. She tried to convince him to take something else instead. “But this thing is useless,” he argued. “It only burdens you. What I will give you in its place is much more valuable.”

She hesitated a moment, wrestling with herself, but finally agreed to give it up to him. The ogre then took away her precious possession and returned with a very small package from his cupboard. He placed it in her pack and helped her put the pack on, and it was indeed lighter. “Thank you,” the ogre said, “not many people allow me to help them.” “No, thank you,” she replied, trying to remain optimistic. “By the way, what is your name?”

“My name,” the ogre said, “is Anger.”

As she left Anger behind and continued on her journey, she noticed how much lighter her pack was and how much easier her journey had become. Finally she reached the end of the forest, took of her pack, and sat down to rest. Curious, she opened the pack and removed the small package the ogre had given her. Inside the package she found a beautiful diamond, in which she could see her own reflection, much more clearly than she ever had before.

And she looked up with thanks to God for the beauty of Anger’s gift.

So what is this story all about? Anger is attracted into our minds by the baggage we carry, the things we hold on to that are really useless junk—hurts from the past, pet beliefs, pride, having to do things our way, and so on. People will advise you to avoid anger or struggle against it, but inevitably it will grab you if you are carrying something around that you are unwilling to let go of. If you try to resist letting go, anger will overcome you and cause harm to you and the ones near to you.

Therefore when anger attacks your mind, work to stay calm and attentive so you can follow it to its home. Befriend it and let it show you what you are clinging to that attracted it to you. If you let go of the baggage, you will receive a gift in return, a gift more valuable than whatever you were trying to hang on to.

That gift is deeper insight into the beauty of who you really are.

© 2011 Alan F. Zundel
 

Alan F. Zundel is a counselor, author, and teacher currently living in Eugene, Oregon. His talks are available to download for free at HeartAwake Center at www.heartawake.org.