When does the anger go away?

[Anonymous]

Quote:

Sometimes people say ridiculous things in meetings

That is it in a nutshell to me. And what is ridiculous can be laughed at or shrugged off. The things some people find comforting are just loony! No point getting upset about other people’s fears, feelings, worldviews and whatever. You’re not required to agree. Life is too short to harbor negative emotions which only hurt you and make you feel ill.

Now, if someone says something that you feel is truly damaging to other people, the reputation of the group (the church), or whatever, then my approach is to point out the flawed logic and to dismiss the idea on that basis. But most people’s stray comments don’t require any correction. 50% of the congregation are probably not listening anyway. 😆

[Anonymous]

Well if it is any help I can offer you my story on anger relief. I stopped attending church..definitely stopped watching GC. The garments came off not long after that. I’ve always been a free spirit-you have no control over me-type of person so for me I had to feel free (or at least trick myself into feeling that way for the time being). I simply couldn’t find freedom in the church system. Fast forward a few months and I still don’t participate in church, wear garments, or watch GC but more importantly my heart is where it should be and the anger has for the most part vanished.

Much of my journey has been supported by my husband (who is slightly TBM-Although he has somewhat shifted to the dark side recently) which has made my life a million times easier.

Now that I’ve taken a ginormous step back I feel like I can see the big picture now. I understand why my TBM in-laws are upset with some of their son’s choices and I’m able to remind him of what they believe and to be patient and respectful. I look at some of the teachings I don’t agree with now as seeming silly or black and white and let it go.I don’t take it personally anymore. I’m not at some higher level of intelligence or whatever .. I just don’t understand many teachings anymore, they don’t make sense. My anger went away when I realized that there was nothing wrong with me – that I didn’t need to be fixed and that I was perfectly happy with my present feelings.

[Anonymous]

LaLaLove wrote:

My anger went away when I realized that there was nothing wrong with me – that I didn’t need to be fixed and that I was perfectly happy with my present feelings.

I like this part. Well said.

[Anonymous]

LaLaLove wrote:

My anger went away when I realized that there was nothing wrong with me – that I didn’t need to be fixed and that I was perfectly happy with my present feelings.

Nice.

[Anonymous]

Tom Haws wrote:

I think the anger goes away when you just get tired of it, so, so tired, and you start to just let go.

Tom

I agree with you. There is another piece for me. When I realized I am not my anger, but my anger was what was presenting and I did not like that.

[Anonymous]

Quote:

God allowed these people to suffer so that we could have a legacy of faith.

:: sigh :: Incidentally, our EQ meeting this last week was all about the LDS church being the one and only true church (which we get a lot of in my ward). One individual said that we have ALL the truth (literally, those were his words). It was the first time I remember anyone saying that expressly (as opposed to “fulness” or something). My first thought was “crap, I came to the wrong church this week. I thought my church believed in continuing revelation and progression. What am I doing here?”

I just had one thought. I think Brian hit on it already a bit.

I try to view it as creating our own mythology. People tell stories, and in Mormonism, we use stories for the express purpose of building faith. I bet you have no problem with comic books, or hollywood movies that try to teach a lesson, or moral through a story. Since you know, and accept that they’re not factual, you don’t allow that detail to get in the way of your learning the lesson being conveyed. I try to apply the same idea to church. It all may be factual, or it may not, in any case, it’s likely aggrandized. But it makes no difference, I just try to not allow that detail to get in the way of me learning the lesson being portrayed.

If you were Catholic and had the idea of transubstantiation preached to you, you might feel the same way. But you’d be missing some very cool symbolism and associated spiritual benefit.

[Anonymous]

Euhemerus wrote:

One individual said that we have ALL the truth (literally, those were his words). …My first thought was “crap, I came to the wrong church this week. I thought my church believed in continuing revelation and progression. What am I doing here?” [quote]Nice!

Euhemerus wrote:

It all may be factual, or it may not, in any case, it’s likely aggrandized. But it makes no difference, I just try to not allow that detail to get in the way of me learning the lesson being portrayed.

I’d agree with you Eu, and I lean towards “aggrandized” – that did make me kinda angry for a while, feeling like I was taught it was all literal and perfect…but many accounts and some documented details we now know make it seem like the stories have been passed down over generations to support a story, and it is probably a natural thing for me that there are events that actually did occur to individuals, but retelling them in words is a difficult thing to do.

And so, like you, I have tried to focus on the value in learning the lessons, not the proof of the detailed events. But it can make one frustrated when listening to literalists on Sunday. To me, that’s ok, that is just another purpose of religion and learning to love others despite it.

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