Anger is an Energy

Sunday Service, 30 March 2025

Led by Rev. Dr. Jane Blackall and Dr. Alex Brianson

Musical Prelude: Hymn of the High Plains – Richard Bissill  (performed by Georgia Dawson and Andrew Robinson)  

Opening Words: ‘Come One, Come All’ by Ian W. Riddell

Come one, come all!

Come with your missing pieces and your extra screws

Come with your hard edges and your soft spots

Come with your bowed heads and upright spines.

Come all you flamboyant and drab,

verbose and quiet, fidgeting and lethargic

All you with large vision and tender hearts

All you with small courage and tender fears.

Bring your lisp and your stutter and your song

Bring your gravel and your drawl and your lilt

Bring your anger and your joy and your righteous indignation

Misfits and conformists and everyone in between

Come into this space and be welcome.

Bring who you are, bring where you’ve been,

bring what you long for, and let us worship together. (pause)

Words of Welcome and Introduction: 

These words from Ian W. Riddell welcome all who have gathered this morning for our Sunday service. Welcome to those who have gathered in-person at Essex Church, to all who are joining us via Zoom, and anyone watching or listening at a later date via YouTube or the podcast.  For anyone who doesn’t know me, I’m Jane Blackall, and I’m minister with Kensington Unitarians.

This morning’s service is titled ‘Anger is an Energy’ – and this topic was suggested by our own Alex Brianson – who’ll be joining us via Zoom later in the service to share his reflections on the theme. I think many of us will have internalised a message that there is something wrong with anger – that we should suppress and moderate it – but it has its place within the full spectrum of human emotions. And as Glennon Doyle says in the words that are in the front of your order of service: ‘The only people who have ever changed the world were people who were pissed off, and who stopped trying to manage their anger, or fix their anger, or struggle with their anger—and instead embraced their anger, harnessed their anger with other angry people, and unleashed it in creative ways to make change.’

Chalice Lighting: ‘We Gather This Hour’ by Christine Robinson

Let’s light our chalice flame now, as we do each week. It’s a moment for us to stop and take a breath, settle ourselves down, put aside any preoccupations we came in carrying. This simple ritual connects us in solidarity with Unitarians and Unitarian Universalists the world over, and reminds us of the proud and historic progressive religious tradition of which this gathering is part.

(light chalice) 

We gather this hour as people of faith

With joys and sorrows, gifts and needs.

We light this traditional beacon of hope,

Sign of our quest for truth and meaning,

In celebration of the life we share together.

Hymn 196 (purple): ‘We Sing the Faith’

Our first hymn this morning is number 196 in your purple books, ‘We Sing the Faith’. For those joining via zoom the words will be up on screen (as they will for all hymns). Feel free to stand or sit as you prefer; let’s sing up as best we can.

We sing the faith, which gives us confidence

for human dwelling in the vast immense

and finding there within the great unknown

that there's a cosmic law and order shown.

We sing the hope, which shows us there are ways

for living through our very darkest days

and glimpse beyond a path which leads us on

to find the place where new days have begun.

We sing the love, which is creation's law,

and in a single whole its parts will draw;

and since parts turn and swerve, collide and move,

forgiveness is the final form of love.

Faith, hope and love: we honour each and three

but there's one virtue which we all agree

stands out among the others far above

and that 'the greatest of the three is love'.

Candles of Joy and Concern:

Each week when we gather together, we share a simple ritual of candles of joy and concern, an opportunity to light a candle and share something that is in our heart with the community. So we’ve an opportunity now, for anyone who would like to do so, to light a candle and say a few words about what it represents. We’ll go to the people in the building first, then to Zoom.

So I invite some of you here in person to come and light a candle and then if you wish to tell us briefly who or what you light your candle for. I’m going to ask you to come to the lectern to speak this time as I really want people to be able to hear you and I don’t want to keep nagging you about getting close to the handheld mic. And if you can’t get to the microphone give me a wave and I’ll bring a handheld mic over to you. Thank you.

(in person candles)

And if that’s everyone in the room we’ll go over to the people on Zoom next – you might like to switch to gallery view at this stage – just unmute yourselves when you are ready and speak out – and we should be able to hear you and see you up on the big screen here in the church.

(zoom candles)

And I’m going to light one more candle, as we often do, to represent all those joys and concerns that we hold in our hearts this day, but which we don’t feel able to speak out loud. (light candle)

Time of Prayer & Reflection: by Jane Blackall

Let’s take those joys and concerns into an extended time of prayer. You might want to adjust your position for comfort, close your eyes, or soften your gaze. There might be a posture that helps you feel more prayerful. Whatever works for you. Do whatever you need to do to get into the right state of body and mind for us to pray together – to be fully present here and now, in this sacred time and space – with ourselves, with each other, and with that which is both within us and beyond us. (pause)

Spirit of Life, God of All Love, in whom we live and move and have our being,

   we turn our full attention to you, the light within and without,

      as we tune in to the depths of this life, and the greater wisdom

         to which – and through which – we are all intimately connected.

      Be with us now as we allow ourselves to drop into the

         silence and stillness at the very centre of our being. (pause)

Let us speak plainly, and from the heart, in prayer;

tuning into our true feelings this morning, as best we can,

and laying them honestly before the One Who Listens with Endless Compassion.

There is no need for us to hold back, be restrained, or put on a brave face, before God.

Some of us are feeling weary right now, worn down and depleted by world events,

or the trials of our personal lives; perhaps we’ve been carrying too much for too long;  

some of us face the sickness and suffering of our loved ones or ourselves; some face money worries;

some are lonely and troubled; some overwhelmed and confused; some frustrated and angry; 

we are doing our best to keep on top of all the challenges that we ordinarily face in the course of life.

Still we are mindful of all those who are struggling in even tougher circumstances the world over.

And so, in a quiet moment now, let us bring to mind those situations, people, and places

that are weighing on our hearts right now, and inwardly pray for the help we long for. (pause)

Despite everything, we can still find moments to treasure in our days, things to be grateful for:

for friends and family, reaching out to lift our spirits, and insistently remind us we are loved;

for neighbours and strangers, looking out for one another, and weaving the fabric of community;  

for the courageous campaigners and activists who act and speak out to bring about a better world;

for learning and for laughter; for the natural beauty that surrounds us in this spring season;

and for the new possibilities emerging, the new ways of seeing and being, the hope of change.

And, in another quiet moment, let us bring to mind those people, places, and experiences

that have brought light to our lives this week, and inwardly give thanks for these gifts. (pause)

Spirit of Life – God of all Love – as this time of prayer comes to a close, we offer up

   our joys and concerns, our hopes and fears, our beauty and brokenness,

      and we call on you for insight, healing, and renewal.

As we look forward now to the coming week,

     help us to live well each day and be our best selves;

     using our unique gifts in the service of love, justice and peace. Amen.

ONLINE Reading: ‘Harnessing Our Anger’ by Glennon Doyle (read by Lochlann)

Author and podcaster Glennon Doyle responded to a question from a listener back in 2020. This person asked: “I’m really struggling with my anger lately. I just feel angry all the time. What’s wrong with me?” Glennon Doyle responded:

There is nothing wrong with you because you are angry. Anger is a normal human instructional emotion, just like joy. It’s just that we as women—just like every marginalized group—[are] trained and tamed to be ashamed of our anger.

It’s important for every single marginalized group to be trained and told, over and over again, that if they’re angry that means there’s something wrong with them.

Why would power structures want marginalized groups to believe that their anger is something to be ashamed of? Because people who do not struggle with their anger, but instead embrace their anger and harness their anger, are people who demand change.

The only people who have ever changed the world were people who were pissed off, and who stopped trying to manage their anger, or fix their anger, or struggle with their anger—and instead embraced their anger, harnessed their anger with other angry people, and unleashed it in creative ways to make change.

What if instead of struggling with our anger, we consider that when we feel angry inside, maybe it doesn’t mean that there’s something wrong with us? Maybe it means there’s something wrong. Not wrong with us: wrong out there; something that we might be able to help change.

Women, from time immemorial, have been gaslit by the entire world. Every time we felt angry, somebody tells us we’re crazy. The truth is that angry women are not broken. We are just some of the only people who are responding appropriately to a broken world.

Most of my activism in the world is done because I have trusted my anger; because when I get pissed off, I just assume that there’s something to be pissed off about. And I find other pissed-off women, and we pull together our genius, and our talent, and our resources, and our energy, and we unleash it.

The really cool thing about anger is that when you use it out there, it disappears for a while. When you stop swallowing it over and over again, and studying it, and trying to not be it, and feeling ashamed of it, and not speaking your truth…when you use it, it’s fuel: it burns up, and then you just settle back down until you get pissed off again.

Hymn 11 (purple): ‘Blessed Spirit of My Life’

Thanks Chloe. Let’s sing again now – our second hymn is number 11 in our purple hymn books – a lovely, gentle, soothing hymn – ‘Blessed Spirit of My Life’.  

Blessed Spirit of my life,

give me strength through stress and strife;

help me live with dignity;

let me know serenity.

Fill me with a vision;

clear my mind of fear and confusion.

When my thoughts flow restlessly,

let peace find a home in me.

Spirit of great mystery,

hear the still, small voice in me.

Help me live my wordless creed

as I comfort those in need.

Fill me with compassion,

be the source of my intuition.

Then when life is done for me,

let love be my legacy.

Poem: ‘Cross that Line’ by Naomi Shihab Nye (Brian to read)

We’re going to hear three short poems connected to our theme now – the first two were chosen by Alex and he’ll say more about them in his reflection later on – and they’re printed in the insert on your order of service if you want to refer to them later. The first poem is by Naomi Shihab Nye and it’s called ‘Cross that Line’.

‘Cross that Line’ by Naomi Shihab Nye

Paul Robeson stood

on the northern border

of the USA

and sang into Canada

where a vast audience

sat on folding chairs

waiting to hear him.

He sang into Canada.

His voice left the USA

when his body was

not allowed to cross

that line.

Remind us again,

brave friend.

What countries may we

sing into?

What lines should we all

be crossing?

What songs travel toward us

from far away

to deepen our days?

Poem: excerpt from ‘Mental Fight’ by Ben Okri (Patricia to read)

Everyone loves a Spring cleaning.

Let's have a humanity cleaning.

Open up history's chamber of horrors

And clear out the skeletons behind the mirrors,

Put our breeding nightmares to flight

Transform our monsters with our light.

Clear out the stables

In our celebrated fables

A giant cleaning

Is no mean undertaking.

A cleaning of pogroms and fears

Of genocide and tears

Of torture and slavery

Hatred and brutality.

Let's turn around and face them

Let's turn around and face them

The bullies that our pasts have become

Let's turn around and face them

Let's make this clearing-out moment

A legendary material atonement.

Poem: ‘Useful Anger’ by Stephen M. Shick (David to read)

This poem by Unitarian Universalist Stephen M. Shick is prefaced by a quote by Marge Piercy: ‘A good anger swallowed / clots the blood / to slime.’ Stephen Shick continues:

But what is to be done with it,

this anger that dare not be swallowed?

Should it be diluted with denial, cooled with indifference?

Should it be sweetened with good intentions,

softened with lies?

Should it be spewed out red hot over searing tongues,

scorching the guilty and innocent alike?

What’s to be done with it,

this anger that dare not be swallowed?

Don’t dilute it, deny it, or cool it.

Don’t sweeten it or soften it.

But, pause for a moment.

Could you hold it before your eyes

examine it with your heart and mind?

Could you hold it

then touch it to your belly

that place where your soul rests?

Could you let it enter there knowing it is the part of you

that needs to be treated kindly

that needs to be listened to

that needs to be honoured?

For it has the power to save you,

to save us all.

Words for Meditation: ‘My Commitments to Myself’ by Laura Mancuso

Thanks Brian, Patricia, and David. We’re moving into a time of meditation now. To take us into shared silence I’m going to share a guided meditation from Laura Mancuso, a piece called ‘My Commitments to Myself’, it’s a series of affirmations, encouragements, reminders for practicing self-care so we can live well – and feel the full spectrum our feelings – even in challenging times.

We’ll move from the spoken meditation into a few minutes of silence which will end with the sound of a bell.  And then we’ll hear some music for meditation from Georgia and Andrew. So let’s do what we need to do to get comfortable – adjust your position if you need to – perhaps put your feet flat on the floor to ground yourself – maybe close your eyes. As we always say, the words are just an offering, so feel free to use this time to meditate in your own way.

As I share each of these commitments, I invite you to take them in, repeat them to yourself.

I take care of myself first, because I am deserving of exquisite care.

I take care of myself to maintain the capacity to help others.

I attend to the needs of my body, and move and stretch every day.

I spend time outdoors, in nature, attuning my senses to the earth's wisdom.

I ration my daily exposure to the news and am discerning about credible sources of information.

I protect myself from becoming overwhelmed by disturbing reports. I pace myself.

I sit with the reality of uncertainty & impermanence, and allow it to temper my desire for control.

I listen to others' reactions, which may be different from mine, with equanimity.

I forgive myself and others when stress brings out our shadow selves.

I feel fear fully when I am fearful.

I experience sadness fully when I am sad.

I allow anger fully when I am angry.

I relish joy fully when I am joyful.

I seek out healthy pleasures and indulge in them without guilt.

I remind myself that feelings are transient states that move through me.

They do not last. And they do not define me. Nor do my thoughts.

I balance the urge for self-improvement with compassionate acceptance of myself as I am.

I initiate contact with loved ones, near and far, to let them know I hold them in my heart.

I seek out, with increased sensitivity, those who are the most vulnerable.

If possible, I share my resources with those who need help to survive.

I move away from people, situations, and experiences that do not serve the highest good.

I strengthen my connection to sources of spiritual strength so that I may be replenished.

I acknowledge the nearness of death as a spur for living a full life.

I grieve my losses and celebrate my successes.

I pray for the suffering of all beings to cease.

I remain open to new ways of being,

surprising sources of uplift and joy,

and fresh discoveries every day.

Period of Silence and Stillness (~3 minutes) – end with a bell  

Interlude: Romance – Saint Saens (performed by Georgia Dawson and Andrew Robinson)

Reading: ‘The Gift of Anger’ by Julie Yeeun Kim (Jane to read)

This piece on ‘The Gift of Anger’, by Julie Yeeun Kim, a Korean-American artist, educator, and preacher, was published by the Unitarian Universalist Association just this January as Trump’s second presidential term was about to begin. She writes:

When I was sent to the principal’s office in the second grade for pointing out my teacher’s conspicuous favouritism, my parents wondered aloud what to do with me. What followed was a lifelong lesson about the tricky balance between message and method: how not to deliver the right message in the wrong way.

My parents have taught me, sometimes using words, that telling the truth will cost me something; that wisdom is the negotiation of minimizing or avoiding that cost. “Be careful with the truth,” they said. “People who don’t like it will just call you angry.”

When the United States elected its 45th president, I encountered something for which my parents’ lessons had not prepared me: People rarely wanted to hear the truth about a man as told by a woman. I learned that women who share their truth are dismissed as being “dramatic” or “too angry.” It took so little to be ignored yet so much to be heeded.

I did it anyway. I named the willing seduction of American evangelicalism, already one of the most powerful religious institutions in the world, greedy for more power. I pointed out the silent moderacy of the Christian majority as the enemy of their purportedly beloved “gospel.” I also examined my contribution to American evangelicalism, silent moderacy, and quests for power and stability.

I’ve received countless reminders to be a “Christian,” a “godly woman,” and to “show grace,” terms describing something more like a sedated animal disconnected from its own sense of anger than a human afraid about the future. These people read my anger as a disqualifier of reasonableness. Even in monstrous times, I’m expected to be respectable and respectful, my anger dissolved in a string of soft words.

But anger is not at all what people think it is. Anger has been kind and caring to me. When, as an undocumented woman, I felt most vulnerable to the former-and-future President’s rhetoric and policies, anger was the sign of my will to survive. Outrage on my behalf was hope for our collective futures.

More often than not, in the secret centre of anger is not a desire to destroy but to protect those it loves. It wraps itself around a vulnerable area, like a body turned into a shield for its friends.

Julie Yeeun Kim closes with a few words of prayer: God who inspires and anoints our anger, give us the ability to discern this gift, to discipline and harness it with righteousness. Just as joy without spine and love without resolve are empty, so too is struggle without anger. Teach us this lesson; give us this gift. Amen.

ONLINE Reflection: ‘Anger is an Energy’ by Dr. Alex Brianson  

To start with, I want to ask a question: are you veering between despair and anger these days? I know I am. And although they say one should never talk in polite company about religion or politics, I’m afraid I’m going to do both.

Since you’re in a service this morning, I’m guessing you’re ok with the first part. And if you’re not at ease with the second part, then I’m sorry to make you uncomfortable, but there are worse things in the world and we need to talk about them. Yes, even here, on a Sunday morning.

Especially here on a Sunday morning.

The world is on fire: climate change continues unaddressed, and the wider eco-crises are deepening yet further. Trump and the full-on Nazification of the US. Authoritarians and reactionaries in power in so many places. Putin.

Here in the UK, a government that doesn’t seem to know what ‘Labour Party’ means, throwing the elderly, poor, disabled, and ill to the wolves.

Now, I know all about despair. I’ve witnessed about it here before. It’s a powerful, glutinous, suffocating force, and I know from long experience that I don’t want it. I don’t want it for you either. It can be perversely comforting when it’s familiar. It can bring you right back to the point when you felt that there was no point trying because the bad guys always win. Like in Star Wars. All that drama for Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewie, and then the next generation has to do it all again. Fighting it is hard. And you have to be persistent. It is, frankly, exhausting.

So I’m left with anger. It’s justified, given all that is happening around us to protect and further enrich the already powerful. And, let me tell you, I’m enjoying it. Hello anger. Sit with me a while.

We’re not supposed to enjoy it, are we? Anger management is the thing. Calm yourself down, wait until you’re more considered. Count to ten. Those who fight fire with fore end up with ashes.

Whatever.

My attitude towards anger changed in two stages. The first was about my own life. Being diagnosed autistic at age 48 led me to a fair amount of exploration. I realised that trying to suppress my anger and frustration made me go into shutdown, which led to depression and illness. It’s far better for me psychologically to let rip, melt down, and repair afterwards. I’m an adult, so I don’t give myself carte blanche. But there are times when anger has to be expressed, and it’s actively harmful not to. So I do this far more than I used to, just as I try not to let things reach that point if I can help it.

The second stage was about my spiritual life. I have learned the usefulness of meditation, about calming the nervous system, about giving myself a clearer mind. I do it three times a day. I can vouch for it.

But.

I’m currently more in tune with Jesus the social justice rabbi wreaking justified fury on the usurers in the Temple than in gentle Jesus meek and mild. The guy was subversive. Yes, he preached and acted love. That matters hugely. He did turn the other cheek. But he also knew how to channel anger at injustice. And that’s what I want to do.

Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem is an understated barb about racism, the oppression of minorities, and the capacity of people to organise and oppose them. Robeson was at the time banned from travel overseas in the McCarthy era US, so trades unions organised a concert for him at the Peace Arch on the US-Canada border. Perhaps we should have something similar today to remind Trump that there is such a thing.

Ben Okri’s poem tells us to see humanity’s darkness and refuse to flinch from it. It’s time to Spring clean not just our homes but our souls. We need to make amends for the wrongs we have done as a species, to ourselves, to so-called ‘others’, and to our planet as well as our fellow dwellers on her. I pray about this most days.

Okri reminds us that we have the capacity to transform, to be better, but only if we face up to what we have done collectively. The economy is rigged in favour of the rich, and of the richer countries. The relative social mobility, equal rights for women, people of colour, and LGBTQ people, and comfort of the welfare state is an historical anomaly that still exists in only a few countries. It is under threat there.

It is under threat here.

So what about anger? And how do we use it?

I think there are several ways to do that.

First, anger is absolutely brilliant for cutting through despair. I know a lot of my own depression was congealed anger – suppressed meltdowns if you prefer – and fury is a wonderful antidote to helplessness. So feel it. Taste it. Accept it.

Second, harness it wisely. Sometimes there’s a rush from being Jesus in the Temple, but none of us can healthily sustain that for long. It curdles and becomes exhausting as well as badly focused. Jesus used anger as a tool, not as a constant tactic or value. We need to use it as a way to diagnose what is wrong in the world, and to determine to do something about it.

People of colour have often led the way in this in terms of religious life, and been joined by feminist/womanist activists of faith as well as those of the queer community. This fire is at the heart of the Liberation Theology developed in South America to protest about injustice within national borders, in institutions such as churches, and between nation states. It’s at the heart of our movement too.

Third, know that anger is a spark whose fire gives light but must be tamed to be effective in the long term. Anger must bring us to take action, but morph into compassion. We all have our shadow side, and without integrating it honestly we can find it controlling us. And that leads to the kind of anger shown by the MAGA cultists. This is not where we want to end up.

I’m going to end with a few words of prayer.

‘Spirit of Life, Goddess of all love, help us to feel and process our anger with all that is unjust. Help us to focus it wisely. May it fuel us for courageous action. And when its usefulness is over, help us transform it into compassion, for our own shortcomings and for those of others. So may it be.’ 

Hymn 200 (purple): ‘What Does the Lord Require?’

Thanks so much Alex. Our final hymn is 200 in your purple books: ‘What Does the Lord Require?’

What does the Lord require

for praise and offering?

What sacrifice desire,

or tribute bid us bring?

But only this: true justice do,

love mercy too, and walk with God.

True justice always means

defending of the poor,

the righting of the wrong,

reforming ancient law.

This is the path, true justice do,

love mercy too, and walk with God.

Love mercy and be kind,

befriend, forgive, always,

and welcome all who come

to sing with us in praise:

and in this way, true justice do,

love mercy too, and walk with God.

Yes, humbly walk that way,

free from all pompous pride,

in quiet simplicity,

God always at our side:

thus evermore, true justice do,

love mercy too, and walk with God.

Announcements:

Thanks to Ramona for tech-hosting and Lochlann for stepping in to co-host online today. Thanks to Alex for his reflection and Lochlann, Brian, Patricia and David for reading. Thanks to Georgia and Andrew for lovely music and Benjie for supporting our singing. Thanks to Julia for greeting and Liz for doing the coffee. For those of you who are here in-person – please do stay for a cuppa and cake – we’ve got apple and sultana cake this week.

Tonight and Friday at 7pm we’ve got our ‘Heart and Soul’ online contemplative spiritual gathering – this week we’re considering ‘Surprise’ – email me for the link if you want to join us for that. 

On Wednesday Brian is leading the Poetry Group – that’s in person here at the church at 7pm – have a word with him if you want to be there and let him have a copy of your poetry choice.

Next month’s Better World Book Club will be about ‘The Life Inside’ by Andy West and I have a few copies to loan out if you’d like one. That’ll be on Sunday 27th April on Zoom.

We’ve got our Easter service and congregational lunch on 20th April – have a word with Liz to let her know what food or drink you can contribute to the bring-and-share. And even further ahead we have our next tea dance on Sunday 4th May (which is also going to be part of my 50th birthday celebrations) so it’d be great to have a good turn out for that. Save the date!

We’re currently doing our membership drive for 2025 – if you’re already a member you will have received your renewal email a couple of weeks ago – the information including the link to the Google Form is also repeated in the Friday email. I know it’s tedious for you to fill it in every year but please do it so that we know we have your up-to-date details and preferences on record.  If you’re not yet a member and you would like to be please do get in touch – it’s not about money – it’s about you pledging your support and affirming your sense of belonging to this community.

Next Sunday we’ll be back here at 11am for a service on ‘The Sacred’.   

Details of all our various activities are printed on the back of the order of service, for you to take away, and also in the Friday email.  Or why not take home a copy of our new fancy newsletter?

The congregation very much has a life beyond Sunday mornings; we encourage you to keep in touch, look out for each other, and do what you can to nurture supportive connections.

Time for our closing words and closing music now.  

Benediction: based on words by Cliff Reed

Our time of worship draws to a close.

May what we have found here

of truth and beauty, insight and challenge,

love and comfort, remain with us as we go our separate ways.

And may the blessing of this time together

light our way through the week ahead,

calling from us the strength and courage

we need, to meet the days to come. Amen.

Closing Music: Romance Larghetto – Mozart (from his 3rd horn concerto) (performed by Georgia Dawson and Andrew Robinson)

Rev. Dr. Jane Blackall and Dr. Alex Brianson

13th October 2024