John son of Zachariah met Jesus and said, "Tell me what it is that draws one near to God's favor and distances one from God's wrath." Jesus said, "Avoid feeling anger." John asked, "What arouses anger and what makes it recur?" Jesus replied, "Pride, fanaticism, haughtiness, and magnificence." (Kitab al-Zuhd, Abdallah ibn al-Mubarak)

It is unusual for me to become angry. But a few weeks ago I was as angry as I have ever been.

A series of events caused me to suspect that a stranger was attempting to defraud my son, and once I became involved trying the same trick on me.

One of the reasons that I generally avoid anger is that I don't think it is worth the time or energy. Creativity is a better application of time and energy.

But in this case there was, I thought, reasonable evidence for a pattern of fraudulent behavior involving a large number.

I specifically considered that this might be a time appropriate for "righteous anger."

My anger produced a few sharp words directed at the suspected individual. But even more the anger produced a sense of pride, haughtiness, and self-righteousness approaching magnificence. I was on the edge of fanaticism.

I was wrong. There was a pattern, but it was one of neglect, poor communication, and bureaucratic thinking and behavior.

My anger just made a difficult situation more complicated. Mostly, my anger fractured the wholeness with which I might have engaged the situation.