My observation is that a surprisingly high percentage of spiritual leaders live with a great deal of repressed anger. In church settings, it's hard to process conflict openly, and people feel the pressure to be "nice." Misunderstandings aren't dealt with, and conflict goes underground. If spiritual leaders give vent to their anger, they can get in real trouble, so they learn to hold it in. And by holding it in, they lose joy and power in ministry.

There must be a healthy way to deal with our anger. There must be a helpful mid-point between repression and rage. I think there is help when we look at people who work with social justice causes.

Learning to deal with anger in a constructive way is essential for people active in social justice causes. Whatever the cause might be, there will be some conflict at the heart of it, forces and people that one is fighting against, and a sense of moral indignation at the injustice, oppression, and maybe even violence that we oppose. Often social action has its roots in deep personal suffering ... which gives rise to "righteous indignation." Like Jesus clearing the temple, this zeal and anger motivates and empowers what we do.

I don't have a complete answer to this question, but I've learned some things. I'm one of those leaders who dealt with repressed anger for a number of years, and it's only in mid-life that I'm learning to deal with it directly and constructively. I've also been learning about this from my coaching of other leaders.

I'm struck by the wisdom of Gandhi on this issue. Not long ago I read a book, whose title has become somewhat of a mantra for me: "Your Life is Your Message." It was written by Eknath Easwaran, a contemporary and friend of Gandhi, and it's where I found the quote I started this article with. 

As you'll see in the extended quote below, Easwaran does have a strategy to help someone "transmute" the power of anger: meditation. Before I share the quote, two reminders:

1. We use the term "meditation" to describe a wide variety of practices, so it might be helpful to clarify what he means. When he talks about meditation, Easwaran is talking about what people might refer to today as "insight meditation," where we sit quietly and reflect on an issue. In this sense, it is disciplined thought ... not the kind of thought where we just let our mind go around in self-reinforcing circles. This is especially important when it comes to anger. It might be tempting to simply stew on our anger ... let ourselves mull over how we've been victimized, and work ourselves into higher levels of anger. What Easwaran is suggesting -- and what I've found -- is the kind of reflection that forces you to challenge your assumptions, to learn to see things different ways, to guard against any tendency to act rashly.

2. It should be obvious, but needs to be emphasized: this process takes time. For Gandhi, it took years ... decades. I suspect this is the case for most everyone. While it's true that young leaders are full of fire and energy, it is also the case that this fire and energy is often wasted and misused ... and can even be damaging. The more fire and energy someone has, usually the longer and more challenging the process of learning to control and direct it.