Divine Indignation

Lurking in the shadows, hovering over every street corner, it waits. Wallowing in a deep slumber pending its awakening, a moment of strike; it hungers for release. Surpassing loathing, exceeding anger, and transcending hatred, wrath is the highest form of animosity. Labeled as justified fury, this deadly sin emerges daily. Wrath is the stench of the Holocaust; burning flesh drifting from the crematory. It’s the deep throated, haunting voice of the devil coming from Linda Blair during her exorcism. Wrath is the bitter taste of blood that gathers in your mouth, and the sickening rage that builds in your stomach when you hear of innocent girls being executed one by one, committed by a man who has been instantly forgiven. Society has absolutely no control over this foe. On autopilot, it overrides every emotion until the need for vengeance is satisfied. Provoked by human nature, it does not fall within the same vicinity as adoration. The worst of it is, we tolerate it. Its constant occurrences compel us to react. Afterwards, we wonder as to how our temper began to seethe so quickly. Wrath has been classified as justified and godly, as well as inexcusable and immoral. The line between these has blurred, and it has become a case by case judgment as to what is acceptable. Wrath can be physical, like a drunken low-life taking out aggression in the form of consistent blows on his petrified wife. Wrath can be verbal, like a misfit finally lashing out at the bully on the back of the bus. Mentally, wrath can affect the mind of a passing college student who becomes irritated and provoked by the man lecturing on fornication and drunkenness. Our hands are tied as to knowing the cause of such a disruption of our souls. Every positive emotion instantly disappears, and every ounce of hatred surfaces. We are later motivated to blame it on the fact that it was caused by outside sources. We do not have control over this sensation, no matter how many times we try to convince ourselves we do.Our hearts pound and heat travels up our necks and to the tops of our ears making our faces red. Our palms become clammy from the temperature of our bodies rising so rapidly. Our hands begin to shake uncontrollably, and something within us commences to build like a shaken soda about to burst. One twist of the cap and it is over – unleashed, unmanageable, uncontainable anger. We ask if it’s justified; if our reasoning for outbursts, wicked thoughts, or loathing is going to be judged and ruled against us. By the time we question it’s too late and the damage has been done. Wrath is immortal, surviving through the ages and thriving on momentary fatality of the mind, body and soul. Why this power was given to us is unbeknownst and beyond our intelligence level. Wrath is something we will never be able to comprehend. It is something we will never be able to overcome, at least while evil still exists in the world. It is a force to be reckoned with, and will forever be unavoidable. It is something we acknowledge, but do not understand. Wrath is divine indignation that has been used and abused and will continue to be sanctioned for the rest of eternity.