Certain individuals use their anger as a brooding hostility to control those around them. There is a wonderful portrayal of this in John McGahern’s novel
When you really inhabit your anger, you enter into your power as a person. This should not be a permanent necessity. If you are in a situation where you are being controlled or bullied, the expression of your anger can liberate you. It is frightening that we often secretly believe that those who have power over us have right on their side, and our duty is to comply. No one can oppress you without some anger awakening in you, even covertly. If you listen to that anger, it will call you to recognize your right to an integrity of presence. And it will bring you to act and clearly show your strength. It is astounding how each day we give away so much of our power to systems and people who are totally unworthy of it. Ultimately anger points towards life. When your anger flames, it targets the falsity of expectation or tightness of belonging that is being inflicted on you. Anger breaks you free, suddenly.
You really become aware of the force and light of human presence when you are in the company of a charismatic person. In theology, “charisma” means “divinely conferred favour.” A charismatic presence is one that inspires people. It has a natural balance between the personality and the vision that the person represents. In some way, the luminosity in the person is an aura that tangibly reaches out and affects others. In German one speaks of “eine grosse Ausstrahlung,” i.e., a great streaming forth of radiance. The charismatic person does have a radiance that stirs us. It is given to some people to be carriers of huge spirit. This is not something they have sought out or earned. It is not something that they have worked up in themselves. It seems to belong deeply in their nature. I remember once speaking to a friend about a family we both knew who had such spirit and he said, “If you put one of them in a house on her own, you would fill it.” Charisma reminds us that there is no system or frame large enough to hold the secret immensity that is in each person.
The truly charismatic presence is also to be distinguished from the overblown personality who fills a room with talk and bustle, but manages to create more heat than light. When silence and poise anchor the charismatic presence, there is a lovely balance between what the person is affecting outside and his or her own self-belonging and self-possession. If this anchorage is not maintained, then such a presence is in danger of burning itself out. It is the art of belonging to one’s soul that keeps one’s presence aflame. From this belonging comes the light of inspiration and vision, which cannot be manufactured, only received. Without such belonging, the charismatic presence can, in extreme cases, become toxic. It can let in dark, dark forces and inflame people with hatred, as in the case of fundamentalism and fascism, or numb them into passivity, as happens in cults.
