The Problem of Anger

"I spotted something strange in the trees between Ennuied and the abyss. The tall green trees in the area were covered in brown spots that looked like some kind of blight. I looked more closely and found the spots were actually something hanging from the trees; there were more than I could possibly count. Dangling from strong branches, just a few feet above the ground, were structures of various sizes filled with people; some of the structures contained groups of people, while most carried just one. The structures themselves were very strange, with prison bars on the front and the back completely open to the air. The people inside looked forlorn and trapped, both gloomy and angry, yet any could have walked out the back of their cage at any time." -Journey From Ennuied p. 232

Justice Is Over-Rated

This passage is a metaphor for the power of anger and bitterness to imprison. We know that resentful and jaded people are not pleasant to be around and we can observe that nothing much good comes from all of the rage. In spite of this, anger is seductive; it allows us to channel our hurt and pain and provides us with focus in a quest for justice. The difficult reality is that justice is elusive and the real fruit of bitterness is emotional and spiritual death.

Seeing prisons in the trees, Eloy is incredulous and asserts that the prisoners should simply leave out the back way stating that their pain can't have been so bad as to keep them locked up in this way. A tear forms in the eye of Eloy's wise friend Khalid, "Friend, their suffering was that bad and worse; never-the-less, you are right. Perhaps you remember the abyss—the only way out is the back door."

The Back Door To Freedom



What is the back door? It is the only way out of bitter prisons. It is the courageous choice, again and again, in both thought and actions, not to seek punishment for the sources of our pain and to let the anger fade. The back door is a pathway the mysterious power of love and lowness described in The Journey From Ennuied.

This theme comes up regularly in The Journey From Ennuied, because these difficult choices come often in life and because they are a pathway to the mysterious power of love and lowness.