My dad’s painting purchased in Spain, painted with a knife
Proverbs 15:1 NIV
A gentle answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.
“I HATE YOU!” I regretted screaming those words at my mother before the screen door ever closed behind me. I had no reason to be that angry with my mother, and I knew I had been “seeing red.” According to Well and Good, “It’s [seeing red] really a colloquial term—not a clinical one—to mean having a flash of anger so extreme, it takes over your mind,” says psychiatrist Gail Saltz, MD, clinical associate professor of psychiatry at New York Presbyterian Hospital. What happens when people see red is that “the emotional state supersedes the rational state, and we do not process things,” says neuropsychologist Sanam Hafeez, PsyD. “There is so much emotion that it replaces proper cause-and-effect processing in the brain.” That was me alright and mortified by my actions, I got in my car and left instead of doing the right thing and going back in and apologizing to my mom. I can’t even tell you what the disagreement was about, but when I came home, she didn’t say a thing. I apologized, and she, with her loving heart, forgave me. I knew I had hurt her worse than if I had hit her with a baseball bat. I never wanted to feel that way again. I never wanted her to feel that way again! Jesus had a better solution.
Some scholars believe the phrase “seeing red” was coined because of the way the red cape in bull fighting is used to enrage the bull. According to Spain Traveller, “Experts consider that modern bull fighting in Spain started in 1726 when Francisco Romero, a significant matador from Ronda, introduced the use of the sword (estoque) and the famous red cape (muleta) into the bullfight.” Shortly after this time, the phrase begins to make its way into literature. But according to Phrase Finder, “There is an alternative possible derivation. The phrase may be an adaptation of an earlier American expression – ‘to see things red’. That is unconnected to bull-fighting and alludes to a state of heightened emotion when the blood rises and we become angry – what these days is more often referred to as ‘the red mist’.”
Jesus knew anger, but he never saw “the red mist.” He flipped the tables of the money changers at the temple. He was angry at hypocrites and those that mistreated others, but Jesus didn’t steep in anger and never lost control. His greatest strength wasn’t in hostility, but in love. Even after all the miracles He performed and the Pharisees were still coming at him, He stayed calm and most importantly He spoke truth in love. From what we learn about Peter, it would seem he knew something about “the red mist.” Among other things, he chopped a guy’s ear off! But then, Jesus healed it. What a wonderful example to us. If we mess up, we can’t fix it, but Jesus can. Jesus blessed my mom with such a loving heart. She didn’t hold my “seeing red” over my head and make me pay for it. She instead was an incredible example of Jesus’ love, and forgave me no questions asked. But in order to receive that forgiveness, I first had to humbly approach her and apologize. We could call that repent. That’s all Jesus asks of us. We are prone to mistakes, but humbly return to Him, repent, receive forgiveness, and move forward. After all, He left the red behind on the cross.
