Holes in the soul

[Gail]

“It is one thing to process memories of trauma, but it is an entirely different matter to confront the inner void- the holes in the soul that result from not having been wanted, not having been seen, and not having been allowed to speak the truth. If your parents’ faces never lit up when they looked at you,it’s hard to know what it feels like to be loved and cherished. If you come from an incomprehensible world filled with secrecy and fear, it’s almost impossible to find the words to express what you have endured. If you grew up unwanted and ignored, it is a major challenge to develop a visceral sense of agency and self-worth.”   Van der Kolk, Bessel; The Body Keeps the Score, p.298

Trying to understand better... How does this knowledge of the real void in people’s hearts shape our sense of sharing the Gospel? Knowing that people have “soul holes” makes grace seem so much deeper and relevant.

The stuff we don’t know...

[Lone Ranger]

5 minutes ago, Gail said:

“It is one thing to process memories of trauma, but it is an entirely different matter to confront the inner void- the holes in the soul that result from not having been wanted, not having been seen, and not having been allowed to speak the truth. If your parents’ faces never lit up when they looked at you,it’s hard to know what it feels like to be loved and cherished. If you come from an incomprehensible world filled with secrecy and fear, it’s almost impossible to find the words to express what you have endured. If you grew up unwanted and ignored, it is a major challenge to develop a visceral sense of agency and self-worth.”   Van der Kolk, Bessel; The Body Keeps the Score, p.298

Trying to understand better... How does this knowledge of the real void in people’s hearts shape our sense of sharing the Gospel? Knowing that people have “soul holes” makes grace seem so much deeper and relevant.

The stuff we don’t know...

And what do you do when it is the church/"gospel" which creates and perpetuates those holes?

[Gail]

Thank you for your vulnerability... I often wonder if, as a Christian, I am relevant and sensitive in the right way. Christ came to free the captives: how blind I have been at times!

That is why I invite these hard and self-directed questions.

((( The Wanderer )))  

[Gail]

3 hours ago, Lone Ranger said:

And what do you do when it is the church/"gospel" which creates and perpetuates those holes?

God forbid...  That is my point. 

Sure, with a few words one can acknowledge Christ as our Shepherd and Healer of our souls. But the healing might not come today, with prayer or exercise of faith. What I realise in reading this book is that trauma makes real changes in the brain. Those holes make physical symptoms which are now recordable with modern medical equipment. Where do we as Christians stand when we learn that these physical changes may be akin to the leg amputation as far as miracles go? How damaging may we have been in asking the faithless to pull up the bootstraps and get it together? Victims of well-intentioned but misinformed “Christian” counsel KNOW by their hurt that something is not right.

Believers may, indeed, be creating infidels by ill treatment of others.

I truly believe that in this we are Laodicea. Again it’s not the checklist. It is how we treat others. God is love and love is a principle that is pretty much universally understood. But we are too often not loving and not wise for Him.

 

[Gail]

Please read my signature... I refer to it often