“Without apologies, anger builds and pushes us to demand justice.”
― Dr. Gary
Chapman, The Five Languages of Apology
INJUSTICE is rife over the earth in
dimensions we merely scratch the surface on. And, yet, we cannot get over the injustices
that invade our lives. They swarm in and take over. And we are left seemingly defenseless.
But there has to be a safe way out.
When a person takes matters into their own
hands we can assume, most of the time, there is some validity to their anger –
their anger is an indignant one. What they are truly angered by is the
transgression at the hand of a hurt person, for:
Hurt people hurt people
When hurt people are in a position of influence
– and we all have positions of influence, e.g., the parent over the child – the
opportunity to transgress a person is palpable. The formula for oppression
could well be: hurt person + influence = relational transgression.
And, the fact is, we all get hurt from time
to time. We transfer our unconscious anger onto people, sometimes without even
wanting to. We have to be wary of ourselves when we are in positions of
influence (all the time) in relational settings. We have power and the motive,
and therefore the opportunity, to transgress.
Now we can see how it is that another
person has transgressed us, and, without an apology that fits our requirements,
that we have been pushed too far. The battle field is resentment, even though
we may hate even being there – the ‘pacifists’ we are.
It is obvious: for very rational reasons we
can often be pushed too far.
Protection Against Being a Hurt Person
Gird this advice in tension with the fact
that we are all only minutes from being hurt, especially if our relationship
with the Lord isn’t particularly safe and strong.
We are hoping to be people who can operate
in a way that we can get beyond the hurt position – so we will need protection,
which I see is an anointing from God that we can pray over our lives, such that
the Spirit can avail us to power in this regard.
This was the idea sown into me ten years
ago now; it has worked a vast majority of the time: “I can neither hurt, nor be hurt.
I cannot damage anyone, nor be damaged. I am against nobody, and nobody is
against me.”
Whether these statements agree with the
facts you know about yourself or not is irrelevant. The key is our willingness
to come under the Spirit’s protection – to be anointed to love and be loved –
to truly become a peacemaker, a peace-creator, a peace-sustainer. We can
promote peace when we are so protected in love that the enemy’s barbs just
cannot stick.
We face a spiritual battle; not one with
the flesh.
***
Hurt people hurt people and we are incensed
by the lack of apology regarding the injustices we experience. But, just as
much, we can climb to a position above being hurt, by simply being aware that
God’s Spiritual protection can be invoked. This is about seeking God to become
the person who has no enemy and can be no enemy.
© 2013 S. J. Wickham.
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