“. . .I say unto you, that every one who is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment. . .”

We’ve all had days when we’re running on empty and our battery is drained. Suddenly, something unexpected happens on the highway, and, the next thing you know, we’re acting out like kids, playing bumper cars at 65 miles per hour.

According to the National Institutes for Health, 5% to 7% of us - - or about 16 million people - - suffer from road rage. Since there are only 8.2 million lane miles of roadways in this country that means there are, on average, two hot heads per mile. One behind you, one in front of you, they're tailgating, weaving in and out of traffic, honking their horn, racing to get ahead of you on their road to perdition.

Over the course of a lifetime, the typical road warrior has 43 angry outbursts resulting in a total of $1,359 in damage to property. But the losses can be far greater.

Today’s reading reminds us that anger is one of the seven deadly sins. Deadly in more ways than one. Medical studies show that people prone to angry outbursts, the hot heads, are four times more likely to die prematurely than those who score low on standard tests for hostility. Angry outbursts trigger physiological and biological changes that tax the heart.

Certainly, there are times when anger is an appropriate response to a threatening event. But when we dwell on the incident and become angrier and angrier over time we become a threat to our own peace of mind and that of those around us.

A couple of years ago, in Florida, one rage-aholic cut off another at a busy intersection. At the next traffic light, the driver who had been cut off, got out of his car, walked up to the other driver, pulled out a gun and shot the man dead.

When incidents like that make national headlines, they remind us that anger can be lethal. But there are other types of anger that are much less violent, though highly toxic to any relationship; chief among these is the use of course, vulgar, demeaning language: verbal abuse.

Jesus had some strong words for those who use vulgar, derogatory expressions such as "raq" (which meant "I spit on you") to insult others. I wonder what the Lord would have to say about the talking heads on TV who try to demean and shout down one another. I wonder what he’d say about some of our profanity laden TV series and the often crude remarks made about women by comedians..

To the extent that the media mirror and magnify society at large, the picture that emerges is of a coarse, unfeeling culture in which the freedom of speech has become a license to inflict pain. Contrary to what we learned as children, words can harm us, and often do so, leaving life-long scars. Words have weight, their emotional impact sharpened by cursing.

When insulted, our first instinct is to respond in kind, But Jesus told us to hold our tongues and keep the peace. When disagreements arise among friends or family, the one who is more spiritually mature must take the first step toward rapprochement.

There is still another form of anger that is subtler, yet corrosive to a relationship, and that is passive aggressive behavior.

Practitioners of this type of anger try to bottle up their feelings only to have them come out sideways in inappropriate ways. My guess is that many of the Jews in Christ's time would have been passive aggressive toward the conquering Romans. Unable to express themselves freely, they might have taken their anger out on members of their own families.

Christ warned them, "Everyone who is angry with his brother, shall be liable to judgment."

The root cause of most anger is frustration. It can be a neighbor's barking dog, a snow plow that blocks your driveway, a telemarketing call at dinnertime, a shopper with twelve items in the six item checkout lane. Life is full of frustrations. Caught off guard, we react angrily and lash out at those around us. Venting our frustration feels good. In righting a wrong, we feel righteous.

But that's not how Christ feels. The way He sees it, "Whoever says,'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell."

We've all done and said things in anger that we've come to regret. Regret is the key to understanding Christ's attitude toward anger. He recognizes that there will be times when we lose our tempers, and later come to regret it. When that happens, we need to seek reconciliation. Otherwise, the other person can dominate our thoughts; rob us of peace of mind. It’s as if they’re living rent-free in our minds.

If you’re angry, chances are the other person is, too. What he or she is feeling is pain - - anger is another word for pain. It often responds to soothing, healing words, especially when accompanied by prayer.

“If therefore thou art offering thy gift at the altar,” Jesus said, “and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.”

Forgiveness is the gift we give ourselves.