Lent 28: Should we be angry more often?

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?  Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?  O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent."
Psalm 22: 1-2

Following on from my post yesterday, I have been thinking about how comfortable the Bible is with the feelings of anger and frustration.  It says clearly that should not be quick to anger, and that we need to be careful about what we do with our anger, how we express it and where we direct it; but there is no sense of shame or cover up of anger that I can find. There is certainly a lot of anger of God expressed in the Old Testament, and Jesus shows anger when he clears the temple; the psalms are full of frustration at God, and Job had his fair share of anger too.

In most examples I find, the anger or frustration of God is followed by a renewal of promise and love to God's people; and the anger or frustration of human beings is followed by a renewal of commitment and praise to God.  The anger is not allowed to stay and fester, but is expressed openly and honestly and in the context of love and praise.

I think modern Christians have learnt that being 'good' and being 'holy' involves not getting angry.  I certainly learned this somehow and am now not so sure that this is right.

Anger can be an expression of acknowledgement of injustice which moves us to action; it can be an outlet of the genuine passions and desires of human beings, which, if not released, can be turned on the self; and it also seems to be a valid and important part of grieving or letting something go.  Yes, when it is not one of these positive things, anger can be destructive and self/other-consuming, but not half so destructive as bitterness and slow resentment.

In Matthew 5: 21-22 Jesus clearly tells us that anger against another human being is wrong and damaging.  I wonder whether Jesus means the kind of slow, resentful anger that builds up when we hold onto our anger, rather than all anger and righteous anger?

I wonder whether we lose something when we refuse to get angry at all costs.  Do we lose a motivating passion, an outlet for human frustration and grief, and even a part of the image of God in us?

I have no complete thoughts on this, I just feel that there is more to anger than we often recognise, and a good and right place for it in ourselves and our relationships.