Tuesday, October 18, 2005

A Lesson in Reality

Sometimes I need a reality check. I think we all do to some degree or another.

I was researching a topic and stumbled upon a site that talks about Dissociative Disorders. They used to be called Multiple Personality Disorders.

That probably triggers a curiosity about the topic that I was researching eh? The research stemmed from something that I needed to do that was very difficult. It was essentially a letter to my past.

For the most part, through the healing grace of Jesus Christ, the strength and perseverance of my adoptive father (long story), the guidance and healing touch of two fantastic psychologists - one a priest and the other a layman (many years), and the support of some very close friends that I have come to heal much of my past.

You see, I still bear many physical scars on my body from the abuse that I experienced when I was growing up. They are a constant reminder of that past. I also bear the mental/emotional scars from the huge volume of emotional and verbal abuse that spanned many decades and still happens sometimes to this day. There were other forms of abuse as well.

So, I was kinda feeling sorry for myself, and falling into a depression.

I was jarred out of it when I came across the Dissociative Disorder site. Why? Because people who have these disorders experienced abuse on a magnitude exponentially beyond what I experienced.

The first thing that hit me when I found that site, was the need to pray, to plead, to beg God to protect people from being abused in any way. The next, was to reach out and share some of my experiences with the hope that others will find that hope! For, there is hope, and it is found in Jesus Christ, in finding a supportive friend or a group of friends, in good professional counseling and prescription drugs if need be, and in discovering that once the wounds were healed, those scars could be a source of comfort for others.

When we speak of walking in the footsteps of the Master, there are hundreds of thousands of us who have lived, are living, and will live the Cross, Passion, and eventually Death through the abuse we have experienced. And the hope: we will live the Resurrection!

Jesus, bless us with humility and gentleness. Thank You Jesus for the gift of this life, for indeed life is a gift.

Pax vobis,

J.E.

The Dissociative Disorder site I came across.
Speech of Mother Teresa of Calcutta to the National Prayer Breakfast, Whatsoever You Do...
That Scripture from her speech title is Matthew 25:31-46.

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