A note to Jeffrey Epstein’s victims
Dear Lisa, Marina, Anouska, Ashley, Haley, Maria, Danielle, and the thousands of other women who carry trauma because of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell:
When we are forced to carry trauma, we stand at an intersection of sorts. We have a wild, fierce, and yet familiar energy bubbling and boiling around us, and it is frightening. It feels as though it can drown us, but we must be careful not to mistake its intent! That wild, fierce, and familiar energy speaks your names, not as foes but as friends!
It is wild because it is born of an injustice. It is fierce because it is divine. It is familiar because it resonates with the image of God already within you. Breathe on this energy. Ignite its flames.
I offer four prescriptions:
Trust yourselves. The sounds of doubt, minimization, “forgiveness,” and complicity will haunt you. Turn your backs repeatedly. The evil that motivated your perpetrators is alive, well, and insidious. There is no good intention behind such sounds.
Do not expect nice and neat. Your healing will be messy. The search for justice will be messy. You may get a detail or two wrong. Trauma does not tell its stories in any balanced, chronological, or clear way, and the absence of fine detail, facts, and “proof” only lends credence to the trauma.
Expect to be traumatized. I am 62. My trauma “ended” when I was 19. I still suffer its effects. It sneaks back in through the tiniest crevices I’d thought I’d shut, and through open windows I would have sworn bore no likeness, so why trigger me? Be compassionate. This will be lifelong. Again, it speaks to just how bad, how cruel the trauma was. You can turn this suffering on its head!
Include God. It’s okay to be mad. It’s okay to yell. But do include Him. He was there. He suffered with, and His anger burns for you. Not only that, but He has set before you the way to take hold of this wild, fierce, and familiar energy and turn it into a healing force for you and for others. Accept His invitation to do just this.
My prayers are with you daily.
Reflection
How am I to take this trauma and turn it into a healing force, not only for me but for others?
Prayer
Oh, God, I am so very aware of this wild and fierce energy! I mistake it for anger, rage, and shame. It feels as if it will drown me! Help me see this power is for me! Help me see this energy is mine! Teach me to take hold of it, not be afraid of it, and walk with You through this pain, through this trial, through this hell. I am a survivor. Help me to claim this role. Amen.
Claim the role of survivor!