Something for Sunday Morning

Freedom from anger is a triumph over one's nature. It is the ability to be impervious to insults and comes by hard work and the sweat of one's brow. . . The first step toward freedom from anger is to keep the lips silent when the heart is stirred; the next, to keep thoughts silent when the soul is upset; the last, to be totally calm when unclean winds are blowing. . . Just as darkness retreats before light, so all anger and bitterness disappears before the fragrance of humility. . . Nothing is quite so out of place in a penitent as an unruly spirit, for conversion requires great humility, and anger is an indication of all kinds of presumptuousness.

St. John Climacus