The news is full of how tough things are going to get. There are many reasons to be angry. The scary aspects of human being are banging on our awareness like a noisy gong. It is tempting to hunker down in a bunker and block everything out with a wall of iron.
Like working through the experience of grief, where the feelings of loss never leave. Your world can become bigger, and grow, so that the awareness of loss eventually becomes momentary pangs rather than a freezing fog that dims your sight and grips your heart all the time.
Anger can be tempered. Cast iron is very hard, it will not bend until it breaks, and things bounce off it. However when it breaks it violently shatters into pieces. Steel can be hardened as well, but by bathing it in lower temperatures it can be heat treated to loose some of that hardness and gain toughness. This is why I chose the title “Steel Shirt” Rather than the “Iron Shirt” of the song. That, and I’m a blacksmith. Correct use of metal is important to me! If you are going to armour up and face the devil down, make sure you are wearing the best gear. Put on a steel shirt and face down the devil. Temper your mind, relax and let the hardness go. Pick your battles, and choose the battlefield well. Better still, seek peace and create spaces where conflict can be resolved through the recognition of authority rather than the imposition of power.
There will always be poverty, but if you are in a position where you can feast today – feast! and invite your friends to celebrate with you. Pour perfume into the room while the one you love is with you. There will be enough time to work at expanding the cage floor, and you will do it better if you spend time reminding yourself what you are living for.
And here is a recording of the songs composer which will hopefully help you do that.
