The song of angry men

Do you hear the people sing
Singing the song of angry men
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again

When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes

Anger makes me nervous. The power we hold in our angry hands is very often underrated. It can fuel us to make big moves, creating waves of actions and reactions that can ripple through our lives for years. We’ve seen angry people kill, steal, and destroy. Yesterday, we saw the effects of anger as bombs ripped through groups of people gathered together to celebrate the incredible accomplishments of the Boston Marathon athletes.

But history tells us that angry people can also do some good. Because no matter if it was one person or a thousand people that orchestrated yesterday’s horror, what I saw in response to the terrorists was people all over the world pouring out love. We felt anger first, no doubt. I read articles and facebook posts and scrolled through the pictures on Instagram that all told the story of a people angry at what was happening. We shook our fists in the air at the turmoil that we can’t even begin to understand. Why would someone do something so awful? What is wrong with our world? How is this happening…AGAIN?!?!

But then the anger of the people did something magical, spiritual even. Our anger and outrage at the events in Boston became a fuel for us and we realized that someone, somewhere had lit a match and we are at once ignited with love and support. So we started to lower our shaking fists and extend our hands to the person standing beside us. We embraced each other. We offered words of hope and comfort. We stepped forward in love. Love for those that are hurting. Love for people we do not know. Love for a city that woke up in hope and went to sleep in fear.

However you are choosing to show love in the wake of yesterday’s events, let it continue. Let the anger you felt at this horror continue to fuel the love you extend as a way to say I’m here, Boston. I’m here, World.

One of the saddest things that will happen in the coming weeks is that we will forget. We will forget the feeling we had watching the news yesterday. We will go about our lives and the anger will dissipate. I beg and pray that the love will not. That someway, somehow, we can see the stranger standing beside us as a person and offer a smile. A person worthy of love and grace. A person that was once a child celebrating something happy and spectacular and at some point his world view changed because someone got angry. At some point we’ve all experienced the realization that bad things happen. But here’s the thing, when bad things happen, there are good people nearby. Always. Look for the good people. Be the good people.

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping’.” ~ Fred Rogers

So get angry. Shake your fist in the air and scream. And then let that anger be the fuel for love. A love that stands strong and brave and collectively shines brighter than any harm that could ever come our way.

Will you join in our crusade
Who will be strong and stand with me
Beyond the barricade
Is there a world you long to see

Then join in the fight
That will give you the right to be free

Do you hear the people sing
Singing the song of angry men
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again

When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes

Song credit: Les Miserables – “The Song of Angry Men”