Metaphor
Holding onto bitterness is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die. The image is old because it is accurate.…
Anger · Forgiveness · Identity
Quote
The Skeleton at the Feast
Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking
Frederick Buechner wrote: “Of the seven deadly sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back—in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you.” The language is vivid and slightly dangerous. It names the secret pleasure many people find in staying angry, then turns the knife: the meal is consuming the one who eats it. The image stays with listeners long after the sermon ends.
How you’d preach it
Strong for a more reflective moment on the self-destructive nature of nursed anger. Best used when the room is ready for a slower, more piercing word.
- Anger
- Forgiveness
- Generosity
Buechner