Remove This Anger from My Heart
GayLynn Ribeira (1981 – )
- Medium
United States
ca. 2022
43 × 53 × 4 in.
Oil, acrylic, gold mica flake, and gold leaf on birch panel
Ribeira paints a story of a time when Church activities were banned in Ghana. Deeply frustrated by the armed guards posted at meetinghouses, Monica Opare felt a growing anger. When she was unable to respond to her eight-year-old son who asked why he couldn’t get baptized, Opare felt she needed God’s help. Opare decided to start a conversation with the soldier guarding the meetinghouse and learned more about him, including that he had not eaten that day. With a plate of food, Opare made a friend of her supposed enemy.
"As we make a greater effort to serve those we may be resentful toward, the Lord can help us to love them without judgment."