This week I read the conference address titled, "Slow To Anger" by Gordon B. Hinckley from September 2007. It was the last Priesthood session address he ever gave, and I believe one of his greatest and most applicable talks.
In the address he quotes the hymn, "School Thy Feelings," a hymn that I have not often heard sung in church meetings, but who's meaning is significant. One of the lines that really struck me was this, "School thy feelings; there is powerIn the cool, collected mind. Passion shatters reason’s tower, Makes the clearest vision blind. . . ." ("School Thy Feelings", Hymns No. 336). This is one of the hardest principles that most people deal with during mortal life. I wrote earlier about weakness and temptation, and noted that we learn that even Christ was tempted.
I remember times on my mission where it was incredibly hard to "school my feelings" because of anger that I felt. There were times where my deepest and most sacred convictions were mocked and ridiculed, and I had to learn to deal with those experiences while maintaining the spirit. It was really difficult, and required constant and specific prayers.
Having these thoughts in mind, it is interesting to read about the account of the oft-cited example of the interaction of Jesus with the moneychangers in the temple. In Matthew 21:12-13 it reads, "And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, and said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves." It's surprising to see why he reacted the way that he did, because he is known as the Prince of Peace. He was the one who taught that instead of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" we should turn the other cheek. Why did he lash out as he did? Maybe there are certain times when, in order for righteous purposes to be accomplished, anger is the only resort to make people change. These moneychangers may have been so stubborn, and their actions so grievous, that acting in anger was the only way for Christ to get the point across.
Soon after this experience in the temple, however, Christ was on the Mount of Olives, having just taken upon him the suffering, pains and sins of all humanity. He knew every individual better than they knew themselves. When he was taken captive by the Roman guards soon thereafter, Peter reacted in anger, and cut off the man's ear with his sword. Christ, knowing what awaited him and knowing the pain that would be inflicted upon him at the hands of these men reacted in love and reached out to heal the man's ear.
Incredible examples of tolerance, love and overcoming the temptation of anger are evident throughout history, but I'm grateful for the ultimate example, Jesus Christ.