Anger

Do you like to go to the zoo and watch the monkeys play? Have you seen a monkey up close? They are so cute. There are so many variations. Some are large, some small. There are black, brown, white, grey, and even orange ones! I like ring tailed lemur, spider, squirrel, and capuchin monkeys the best.  

      

Chimpanzee monkeys are very smart and you can train them. There are three chimpanzee monkeys that are famous. They are called “see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil” and you can see them in this picture. 

That is silly and true at the same time. We should see, hear, and speak no evil!  Evil things are bad things.

Rio is a white faced capuchin monkey. Capuchin monkeys grow to be between 12 and 22 inches long. That is a little bigger than your dad or grandfather’s foot. They like to eat fruit, bugs, leaves, small birds, frogs, and nuts. 

Rio loved his jungle home in South America. His brothers Cid, Carlos, and Fernando and his sisters Dina and Idola also love their jungle home. They loved to jump from branch to branch and tree top to tree top. They would chase or throw nuts and twigs at each other. They were always playing until Rio got mad.

Rio has an issue. He has a hot temper. A temper is strong anger. One minute he could be laughing and playing, then the next—watch out! He is angry! It is scary! When this happens, Cid, Carlos, Fernando, Dina and Idola swing and jump away as fast as they can!

When Rio gets mad, it's best to stay back because he not only looks scary, but he throws things or shoves others. He has been known to throw rocks! Oh my!

Rio’s parents have talked to him and punished him about his anger. He just won’t listen. He thinks he is justified in his actions. Feeling justified means he thinks he has a right to get angry when someone does something to him. He thinks he has a reason to be angry. He feels he has a cause and can act that way because they did something to him. This is not so. We should not get angry with others, and if we do we should never say or do anything mean.

Rio’s brothers and sisters like to be around him when he is happy and in a good mood because he can be fun.  However, when he gets mad, they don’t want to have anything to do with him. He gets mad so easily. If he loses at a game he gets mad.  He gets mad if he doesn’t get as much as someone else. When he goes to his favorite spot to sleep in and it is taken he gets angry. Anything could make him mad. When his temper flares his face gets red, his nostrils flare and he bares his teeth, looking like he is going to bite! 

Once, they had been having a great day playing, and no one getting upset, even Rio. All of a sudden it started to rain. Rain was pouring out of the sky. Thunder was crashing and lightning was lighting up the sky. Streams were being created out of the sheer volume of water. The streams were flowing down to the river making it run faster and faster. Soon it was overflowing its banks. The branches they had been playing on were getting slippery. There was no shelter because no leaf could protect them. Everyone wanted to get out of the rain, except for Rio. He wanted to keep playing. Fernando said they should go home under the big overhang and watch the rain from there.

Slowly, Rio followed his siblings. When he got to the big overhang everyone was sitting and watching the raging storm. An overhang is where the mountain has a cave and in front of the cave is a ledge and the top part is like a roof over the ledge. The overhang is the roof over the ledge.

Rio said he didn’t want to watch the rain. He wanted to play in it. He had been having so much fun and he didn’t think a little rain should stop him. He was getting angry and everyone knew it. He wanted his sibling to go out and play too. He was glaring at them daring anyone to disagree with his plea. Fernando said they should all stay there because the storm was bad. Rio looked like he was going to do something mean so Cid said he would go out with him then Dina said she would go too. Rio was glaring at Fernando, so Cid pulled on Rios arm until he turned and went out into the storm.

Off they went into the fierce rain. Fernando hollered at them to be careful, but they couldn’t hear over the torrent of rain hitting the mountain. The rest of the monkeys huddled together, worried that their siblings might get hurt. They knew why Cid and Dina went with Rio. Cid and Dina didn’t want Rio to get angrier because they were afraid of him.

After a few moments their parent came. The parents were glad the little monkeys were out of the rain. Then they realized three were not there. When Fernando explained what happened, the parents sighed and looked out at the rain. The rain was so thick they could hardly see the trees that were only a few feet away. They knew they would never be able to find their monkeys had they ventured out. It was getting worse out there. A waterfall had started at one end of the overhang making it even louder. When these rains start they can last for hours or even days. After a few hours and no sign of them their parents got very worried.

Meanwhile Rio, Cid, and Idola were trying to run around. Rio was egging them on but Idola was moving slowly because she was afraid of slipping. Rio was getting upset with her for being what he called a baby. Cid was trying to reason with Rio and said she was trying to play but it was slippery. In anger Rio pushed Cid. Cid slipped off the tree and landed on the one next to them where Idola had just landed. They both slipped off that branch, landing on another. Cid was able to hang on by using all four legs and his tail but not Idola. She slipped again and fell down with a splash into the roaring river! With the rain coming down in sheets and the water moving so fast she disappeared and Cid and Rio couldn’t see where she went. The two of them ran down to the water’s edge but couldn’t get too close because the bank was so slimy with mud. Cid kept calling Idola’s name.

Cid and Rio followed the river looking and calling her name. They looked for hours. When the rain finally stopped it had gotten dark. Even though the rain had stopped it was too dark to see. Sadly, the boys went home to tell their parents.

The next morning, even before first light, they started looking for Idola. Some went from tree to tree and some went as close to the river as they dared. Fernando and Carlos went close to the river slipping, sliding, and almost falling into the river. They hardly recognized each other because they were covered in mud. It was hard for them to walk because the mud sucked them down.

Rio was looking too. He had overheard Cid explain to their family what had happened. Rio had gotten mad and had stomped away to sit by himself last night. Now, he was afraid he might never see his sister again. He loved his sister and he was getting scared. He was also remembering what happened and feeling guilty for what he had done. He finally admitted to himself he had caused it all to happen by pushing Cid who then fell into Idola causing her fall. It was his fault! He was upset so he started to run and jump into trees swinging and running from tree to tree through the jungle. He was angry but this time at himself. At last he used up all his steam and came to a stop out of breath. He sat and put his head into his hands and cried. He had been terrible to everyone! He was out of control! He needed to change. He wanted to be kind and a good brother and son.

Soon his tears were spent. He wiped his eyes and stood. Looking around to see where he was, he realized he didn’t recognize anything. He didn’t know where he was. He had never been this far away before. He was still close to the river but that was all he knew. Looking down on the river, which was much calmer today, he saw where tree branches had been shoved up and onto rocks. The mighty river had taken trees down with it and some were lodged against the big boulders and rocks. Something in that tangled mess caught his eye. Could it be Idola?

Swing from tree to tree he got closer to have a better look. Sure enough it was her! She lie in a heap of fur. He didn’t know how to get to her for she was out in the river to far from shore. The river was still stronger than Rio and he was afraid he would be swept away and then who would help her? Looking all around, he noticed the branch that over hung the river quite a way out. Maybe it was over her and he could reach her from there. When he got onto the branch he realized it was far too high to reach her. He could look down many feet to where she was, but he could not reach her. He called her name, but she didn’t respond. 

Then he had an idea he hoped would work. He found some vines and twisted and braided them together forming a rope. He took one end of it and tied it to the tree branch and the other end around his middle. Rio closed his eyes and jumped off the branch. He was falling! He stopped short of crashing as the rope jerked him to a stop knocking the wind out of him. Rio felt the pain in his stomach where the rope cut into him but he didn’t care. He could now reach out to touch Idola. He reached out and rubbed Idola’s hand and said her name. She slowly opened her eyes and weakly said, “Rio please help me.”

Rio asked her if she could get up, and she shook her head. So, Rio knew what he needed to do. He reached out and lifted her into his arms. Now, they were both hanging by the rope. Idola realized what he was doing so she reached her arms around his neck and her tail around his middle along the rope. Her right leg could not help her because it hurt real badly. Rio told her to hang on as he let go of her to take the rope in both hands. Carrying her while climbing proved to be very difficult. Slowly they made it to the branch. There they lay to catch their breaths. After a while, Rio untied the rope and put it on his shoulder. He picked up Idola and carried her following up river to where everyone was looking for her. They came upon the search party. His dad took Idola from him, and they went to the overhang. There they bound her broken leg.

Rio waited until her leg was bound and then told everyone he was sorry for all the times he had been angry and out of control. He told them he would try to never lose his temper again. They hugged him and told him they forgave him. His mom saw his wounded stomach and bandaged it up. He showed them the rope he made and how he had found and rescued Idola. Everyone was proud of how Rio had acted and how he wanted to change. And change he did. He grew up to be a very nice well mannered monkey.

Boys and girls I just told you a pretend story about an angry monkey. Now I want to talk about people: you and me. We are not to be angry people. The Bible says in Psalm 103:8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy. Are you thankful God is slow to anger? That He is merciful? I am! He is our example to follow. The Bible also says in 1:19, So then my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. Wrath is another word for strong anger. We need to listen to others, not just keep on talking, and we need to be slow to anger just like the Lord is. Proverbs 22:24 says, Make no friendship with an angry man…Wow, we are not to make friends with angry people. That also means if you are an angry person no one should be your friend. We need to be careful not to get mad. We need to listen to others speaking and not try to talk over them or louder than them. We need to not be angry. Do you think this is something you can do? I surely hope so.  

Memorize: Psalm 103:8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy.

Verses in NKJ unless otherwise stated.