It is all right to hiss

Carol Tavris in her book, “The Misunderstood Emotion,” tells an old story of a Swami at a village temple in Bengal, who claimed to have mastered anger. When his ability to control his anger was challenged, he told the story of a cobra who used to sit by the path and bite people on their way to the temple.

The Swami went to visit with the snake to end the problem. Using a mantra, he called the snake to him and brought it into submission. Telling the snake that it was wrong to bite people, the Swami persuaded it to promise never to do it again. And when the people saw that the snake now made no move to bite them, they grew unafraid.

Unfortunately, before long the village boys were tormenting the poor snake by dragging it through the village. Later the Swami again visited the snake to see if he had kept his promise. He found the snake miserable and hurting. The Swami, on seeing this, exclaimed, “You are bleeding. Tell me how this has come to be.”

The snake was in anguish and blurted out that he had been abused ever since the Swami had made him promise to stop biting people. To which the swami said, “I told you not to bite, but I did not tell you not to hiss.”

We need to know that it is all right to hiss when we are being abused or taken advantage of. We need to express our anger in the face of evil. Remember that even anger is a gift from God. It can be a great motivating force in life. As Paul said “Be angry and do not sin” (Eph 4:26). There are times when expressing our anger is the proper thing to do.

James “Skip” French is the pastor of Highland Christian Church located at 1500 Forest Hills Blvd. in Bella Vista. Opinions expressed are those of the author.