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CHIARA! / GOD, CAN YOU HEAR ME?

GOD, CAN YOU HEAR ME?

I’M ANGRY WITH GOD. CAN I TELL HIM?

· Published · 3 minute read

You prayed, you waited, and now all you feel is anger. The Psalms make room for the question you can no longer hold back.

Nuvole scure attraversate dalla luce del sole. Immagine evocativa per la riflessione sulla rabbia e la preghiera.

The phone is still there, with the news you never wanted to receive. You prayed. You asked for something specific, perhaps not even for yourself. Now, alongside the pain, comes a thought that makes you ashamed: today, you really are angry with God.

You stop before saying it. It feels disrespectful, almost like a way of losing the little faith you have left. But what if that sentence became the beginning of your prayer?

The Bible hasn’t edited out protest

The Book of Psalms contains pleas, laments and persistent questions. Psalm 13, also numbered 12 in another tradition, begins by asking God how long his apparent distance will last. Pain enters the conversation without a reassuring introduction.

In his catechesis of 14 October 2020, Francis recalled this very range of feelings: the prayer of the Psalms welcomes joy, doubt and bitterness. It does not require us to approach God with our inner life already tidied up.

Voicing anger is different from letting it do everything

You can name disappointment, protest an injustice and acknowledge that an easy answer hurts even more. Lament addressed to God has a history in Christian prayer. This does not make every word or action driven by anger good.

If your anger spills onto those around you, you can pause and care for that relationship too. A wound deserves to be heard; it does not automatically make others responsible for bearing all its consequences.

You don’t have to find an explanation immediately

Perhaps someone will tell you it had to happen that way, or that everything has a reason. You may not be ready to hear that. CHIARA! does not know the reason for your pain and cannot speak for God to explain it.

From a Christian perspective, praying can mean staying in relationship even while you do not understand. You can seek someone who listens well, bring your question to a trusted priest or read a Psalm slowly. You do not have to do everything today.

A sentence to begin with

“God, today I’m angry. I expected things to turn out differently. I can’t speak to you as I used to: please hear this too.” This is an editorial suggestion, not a compulsory formula.

And if all you can do today is sit in silence, you can start there. Your struggle does not have to be hidden to make other people’s prayers look prettier.

SOURCES AND FURTHER READING

Photo credits

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