"Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat:"

“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat: Sweet Revenge”

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• Genesis 40-45
• ANGER
• Dick Tibbits: Anger—“a strong emotion of displeasure brought on by feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. . . .  A very fine line separates from anger. Most people do not consider hurt and anger as even related, but they are, in fact, two different words describing the same thing. Hurt and anger are simply two sides of the same coin.” (Forgive to Live: How Forgiveness Can Save Your Life 42-43)
• “The seven deadly strategies of anger”:
  • #1—Overlooking the by pretending it didn’t happen or by discounting its impact
  • #2—Focusing on the unfair behavior of the .
  • #3—Displacing anger on a .
    
    • Tibbits: “Some hurt and angry people who can’t deal directly with the one who offended them—maybe that person has died, moved away, or is too intimidating—instead focus their anger on a substitute. This substitute is often weaker and therefore more likely to accept the displaced anger without expressing much (if any) objection.” (49)
  • #4— the anger
  • #5—Developing a mental picture of
  • #6—Using drugs, alcohol, or food to the pain
  • #7—Becoming about life.
    
    • Tibbits: “Some of the worst cynics you’ll ever meet are angry people who have never effectively dealt with a deep and perhaps long-held hurt. They have become experts in scorn, ridicule, and derision. . . . They get whatever joy they can from skewering the naïve hopes of the gullible.” (51)
  • Based on the science of research done at Duke University, the American Heart Association now declares a risk factor alongside other markers like cholesterol, exercise and nutrition. (Tibbits 63)
  • The journal Circulation warns: “A person who is most prone to anger is times more likely to have a heart attack than someone who is least prone to anger.” (Tibbits 63)
• FORGIVENESS
  • Patriarchs and Prophets: “They humbly confessed their sin and entreated his forgiveness. They had long suffered anxiety and remorse, and now they rejoiced that he was still alive.” (231)
  • Samantha Boardman MD: “Forgiveness is linked with lower mortality rates, lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure, lower cortisol (the stress chemical in our brains) and a lower likelihood of developing cardiovascular disease. Forgiveness may even support a healthier immune system. In addition to physical benefits, forgiveness is associated with psychological benefits as well. Overall well-being is linked with forgiveness, as are higher quality marriages and committed romantic relationships. Forgiveness is even related to better sleep.” (http://www.everydayhealth.com/emotional-health/the-healing-power-of-forgiveness.aspx)
  • If anger can kill you, clearly can heal you.
  • Joseph had one choice: bitter or
  • “When you refuse to forgive, you are in effect handcuffing yourself to the person who offended you, to a person you don’t even like. And you know the worst thing about that? While you wait for that person to unlock the cuffs, you are holding the key in your own hands.” (74-75)
  • Anne Lamott: It’s like drinking rat poison and then waiting for the rat to die.
  • Jesus: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)
  • Desire of Ages: “That prayer of Christ for His enemies embraced the world. It took in every sinner that had lived or should live, from the beginning of the world to the end of time. Upon rests the guilt of crucifying the Son of God. To forgiveness is freely offered.” (745)

The gift of forgiveness is the sweetest revenge of all.