The Levity Effect
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Written: |
1/26/09 |
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Published: |
1/26/09 |
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Bibliography: |
The Levity Effect: Why it Pays to Lighten Up, by Adrian Gostick |
Levity is the link between trust, respect, and the engagement of a workforce. It is human alchemy. When atmospheres of friendship are present at the workplace–the kind of friendship that values diversity, encourages the participation of everyone, acknowledges all contributions, allows people to be personable, lets people find joy in what they do and with whom they do it–then employees will take those qualities of trust and respect and turn them into gold for the organisation.
Anger and Ego
| Written: | 1/21/09 |
| Published: | 1/23/09 |
| Bibliography: | The Divine Conspiracy, by Dallas Willard, “Anger and the Wounded Ego” |
“Anger indulged, instead of simply waved off, always has in it an element of self-righteousness and vanity. Find a person who has embraced anger, and you find a person with a wounded ego.”
In this deep section of a profoundly deep book, Dallas begins to lay bare the layers of depth behind our actions. Behind anger (anger which is routinely indulged in) potentially lies a person whose first concern, at least at that moment, is self, Dallas suggests.
There are many different kinds of anger, of course, and not all are an evil. The validity of righteous anger, for example, at injustice or suffering is something we see throughout Scripture.
The root of this commitment to self may be a wounded ego, as Dallas suggests, but I am struck by this notion of a link between routinely-indulged anger and self-focus or ego obsession.
There is a link here between Jesus’ and Paul’s teachings on the need to cultivate gentleness and humility. It is reasonable to conclude that if I possess these qualities in increasing measure, a natural inclination to be angry when something goes against my will then begins to fade…for I am beginning to not be concerned with doing everything possible to ensure my will becomes reality—I am more concerned with His will, and meeting the needs of those around me.
If I am working with Jesus to become the kind of person whose life is characterized by loving others as much as I love myself (Mark 12:28-31), is there room for anger?
I know too many angry people—followers of Jesus included—for this to be anything but a profound question for me.
