Anger and Courage (11-12 reposted)

A familiar quote from St. Augustine of Hippo:

Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are Anger and Courage; anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain the way they are. 

I'd like to paint you a picture of each of these daughters. (Maybe you can share this story with the children in your life.)

  When Anger  was born  she  was a handful, especially for her mother, Hope, who was small and not muscular. Every day Anger noticed something in the world that didn't seem right and this caused her fierce emotions. She would wail until her little lips would tremble and her rosy cheeks turned crimson red. This happened whenever she saw her big brother teasing the frail cat, or his friends throwing rocks at birds. As she grew older Anger became more intense, and as she came into contact with more people, she had more reasons to be angry.

When anger was almost four, Her mother gave birth to another girl, Courage, who was far different than her sister. Courage spent her time exploring new territory. The older she grew, the further she crawled and then walked. Hope worried constantly about this daughter because she never knew where she might go next or why she was going. Eventually , she began to let Anger watch her little sister for although the oldest daughter often threw wild fits, she always stayed very close to home.

One day, Instead of trying to climb the highest tree just for the sake of adventure, Courage watched her sister intently as she began to throw a fit.  "Why are you doing that?" Courage asked.  It took a minute for Anger to calm herself so she could answer.  Didn't you notice that big bully over there stealing all of the candy from the younger children?"

Courage looked in the direction that Anger pointed. When she saw what was happening, she walked over to the bully and reprimanded him. Then she stood guard until he gave back the candy and began to play with other friends on the far side of the playground. From that day Anger and Courage worked as partners. Anger noticed injustice in the world and became indignant, and then Courage bravely took action. Eventually their work became so synchronized that together they recognized wrongs and together they worked to right each situation. Hope filled the heart of their mother, and she became stronger, as did all their neighbors, who learned through watching the actions of the two sisters, not to run from oppressors but to confront them.