Catharsis

This is what the Lord God showed me -

A basket of summer fruit.

He said, "Amos, what do you see?"

I said, "A basket of summer fruit.

Then the Lord said to me, 

"The end has come upon my people Israel;"

"I will never again pass them by."

"The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that that day,"

Says the Lord God;

"The dead bodies shall be many,"

"Cast out in every place."

"Be Silent!"

-Amos 8: 1-3

There are many different kinds of anger.  There is frustration, like when you just can't get something to work the way it should.  There is the kind of anger you feel when you stub your toe, irrational and gut level with no real target except the inanimate object that "got in your way."  There is the anger you feel at injustice and unfairness in the world.  There is anger when someone you love betrays you or lets you down.  Then there is prophetic anger, full of rotten fruit and dead bodies, dry bones and whores of Babylon.

There is only one thing for it: Pantera.  Well, at least that helps me.  I don't suppose it will work for everyone.  For those of you who might not be familiar with the musical genre that can best be described as primal roaring, Pantera is the omega point of HEAVY metal.  Even calling Pantera the same type of music as say, Motley Crue or Poison is sort of misleading.  Normal hair metal bands can get a party going, Pantera will get a fist fight going and/or absolutely terrify everyone in the room who doesn't NEED to hear some freaking Pantera.

For those of you who have never experienced Pantera, I'm not recommending that you start now.  Their music is defined by vocals that sound sort of like a very angry buffalo talking about breaking things and maybe people, and the driving guitar playing of the "Dimebag" Daryl (RIP, because "dimebag" was not just a cool nickname, it was a way of life).  If you're not a fan of heavy metal in the first place, and even if you are, if you're not ready to take that to the next level, do not attempt Pantera.

I put one of my Pantera CDs in the disc changer in my car.  Honestly I don't use it that much since I also have satellite radio, but lately I have been feeling Pantera-ish more than usual, and I decided that having Far Beyond Driven ready at the touch of a button would be a reassuring thing for these troubled times.  So I drove to work today, barely containing the urge to shout along and thrash my head like a maniac (at 43, and since I pretty much talk for a living, I can't afford the sore neck and busted voice box of full participation, also it leads to unsafe driving, I am a grown up after all, even if I am listening to Pantera).

I felt so much better, and I only got through track 4.

Amos is the Pantera of prophets, in that he gives no thought at all for being nice or socially acceptable.  He tells Amaziah straight up, "I don't care about you or your nonsense, I'm not even a prophet or a prophet's son, I'm just here to tell you that you are going to die."

On those occasions when we feel like the mess that we have made of our world is too much for us to bear, it also helps to have someone who is really good at shouting shout with us.  That's where Pantera and Amos come in.  Amos was laying his ruthless invective on the people who "trample the needy, and bring ruin to the poor of the land."  Sound familiar to anyone?  And the ones who were trying to take advantage of the system, maybe even massaging the rules so they could get ahead.  And the ones who pulled and manipulated markets and currency, and the ones who didn't leave enough left over for the poor and the needy.

When you've got that sort of anger, righteous anger, anger at the system and evil that holds the reigns of power.  That's when it's time for some Amos, and some Pantera or Rage Against the Machine. They are not necessarily for everyone, or for every day, but when you need them, you just need them.