Article: Dealing With ‘Legitimate’ Anger

Article: Dealing With ‘Legitimate’ Anger

It is becoming more evident to me that I grew up in a pretty angry society. My entire generation felt cheated and deprived of its sovereign rights. From a very early age, most of us dreamt of leaving the country in search of better pastures.

I remember a mentor and friend looking at my photo album and noticing that I was very uptight in most of the pictures. He even pointed out that my fists were clinched like that of a boxer and asked me why. At that time, I attributed what he described on one of the pictures to the sadness that hovered over us as a family due to the sudden and tragic death of my older brother. He went to bed at night and never got up the following morning. In addition to that, I personally never got the opportunity to experience the closure that comes with taking part in the burial of a loved one. He died in Lagos, was buried in my mother’s village in Eket, but my uncle kept the news from me until he was buried.

Today, with the current anglophone crisis in Cameroon, I am coming to a deep realization that my entire generation grew up feeling the sting of injustice, deprived of educational opportunities and a fair share of  national wealth. I am reminded of the rantings of a major opposition leader who for several minutes, vented his anger during a tête-à-tête I was privileged to have with him as a missionary, over a decade ago. I had met with him because of my concern for civil or national peace.

It is dawning on me anew that Jesus’ life and example is the only real source of hope and healing for such a generation as mine. His story teaches me that life on this side of eternity is not meant to be just. How I am treated is less critical than my response to the unjust treatment.

Does my story strike any chords in you? Maybe it has awakened old wounds incurred by some unjust treatment either in recent times or in the past? There’s a way out. Let’s continuously look up to Jesus for healing and for a heart of forgiveness.

(1 Peter 2:18-25; Isaiah 53:1-10; Hebrews 12:2-4).

Gilbert Kimeng