How to Deal with Feelings of Anger in the Face of Terrorism

Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen a lot of horrible events taking place throughout the world, most notably ISIS-backed attacks in Paris, as well as horrific events occurring in Lebanon, Syria and more. It is natural to feel frightened or angry when news of these attacks breaks. But how can we deal with these feelings in the face of terrorism and remain rooted in our faith?

Here are a few tips:

• Take the time to think through your feelings. Having a daily quiet time is always advisable, but especially when you’ve recently experienced strong emotions that you need to work through. Spend some time thinking about the actions you would want to take in response to what occurred—they don’t necessarily have to be realistic actions, but simply writing down what you’re feeling and thinking can help you find clarity.
• Review this list later on. Review the list of your feelings and potential actions later on. Next to each item you’ve written, write whether this idea is appropriate, helpful, or even plausible. The idea is not to choose an action to take, but rather to analyze the way you think about and respond to acts of terror. Again, the goal is to find clarity to help you better understand your emotions and how to deal with them.
• Choose a plausible action to take. This action could be something as simple as adding daily prayers for the people who fight for our country against terrorists. It could be contributing to charities, or performing volunteer work with veterans. Whatever action feels best to you, choose it.
• Analyze how that action feels. Hopefully, the action you have chosen will help you feel as though your contribution is a part of the solution to these problems plaguing the world today. Much of the anger we feel is because we feel helpless to do anything in the face of such evil. Actually taking steps to do something can help us gain control of our emotions.

We at Curt Landry Ministries continue to pray for all the victims of ISIS attacks, and for the members of our armed forces who remain overseas keeping us safe from such violence here at home.