When Things Aren't Right: Reflections on Ranting

So, what does one do to silence the inner rant, the deeply partisan, self-centered voice that practices saying what one would say if one had the chance - talking back to the television or radio (I've been mad at politicians a fair amount lately), practicing "telling off" one's enemies, and giving in to other unrighteous fantasies that tear down other people?

I don't know about you, but I give in to that inner rant a lot, and while I'll probably never be a sweet, submissive type who doesn't notice and rebel against the things that are wrong - nor should I - I'd like to respond more maturely rather than falling under the control of my "rant."

Here are the things that seem to help me.

1. Seeking out what it is I'm upset about and why. Prayer, journaling, and the like can be a big help. I'm not a person who is comfortable with feelings, my own or anybody else's, but anger and other emotions can point us to the unhealed wounds, unmet needs or expectations, or guilt/shame/fear tied up in our own weaknesses and failures that cause us to overreact to various situations.

I've found that as those are brought into the light, they lose a good bit of their power in my life.

Once my own "junk" is acknowledged, I have greater freedom to consider that there may be another legitimate way to interpret what's going on in the situation.

2. Practicing a different response. I don't know how it works, but the positive-thinking-people are onto something when they say that we can choose which pathways in our mind to develop by our habitual patterns of thought. Ask: Where do you "go" when you hear that inner rant? Is that how you want to live? Do you recognize that there may be another option?

3. Sublimating (or redirecting) the energy to something else. We can take that unmet 'need' and redirect it to a more healthy and satisfying direction. Celibate monks and nuns throughout the ages have sometimes learned how to do this - to let their sexuality be transformed, to sublimate it until they truly are OK; not repressed, but set free.

I'm pretty sure this is not something I can do on my own; I need a higher power here!

What if I took my inner ranting - my obsessive/compulsive tendencies - and my unmet or frustrated desires - and
(1) got to the root of them,
(2) chose not to let them drive me to places I don't want to go, and
(3) turned to Jesus with them and let him transform the energy I'm putting into this kind of thing into something healthy, helpful, life-affirming, and life-giving?

There's a song about some of that. We sang it in church this morning. It's been around a while, and the tune and tone of it are so smooth you might miss the intensity inherent in the words.

One Pure and Holy Passion

Give me one pure and holy passion
Give me one magnificent obsession
Give me one glorious ambition for my life
To know and follow hard after You

To know and follow hard after you
To grow as your disciple in your truth

This world is empty, pale, and poor
Compared to knowing you, my Lord
Lead me on and I will run after you
Lead me on and I will run after you

It's remarkable, isn't it, a rather sweet Christian song that acknowledges being passionate, obsessive, and ambitious - but that there might be a way out, that our Lord could redeem and transform those tendencies through our relationship with him and revealing the truth to us about the way things are? Gives me hope.