Angry? Thank God.
Illustration by Rebecca Heaston.
600,000 instances of child abuse were reported to authorities in 2022 in the United States. How many went unreported?
Abuse is pervasive, and we don’t tend to face it and heal from it. We don’t even consider how abuse impacts our thinking, our desires, our perceptions of ourselves, others, the world in general, and even God. It took me years to realize all the ways I was still expecting God to treat me like my parents did.
If you were not abused, you are being influenced by those who were. Trauma victims are your bosses, your co-workers, your teachers, your friends, your neighbors. This means untended wounds get smeared on you. Our lack of trust, our hostility, our fears are threaded through how we see, think, and operate. And God? Oh, God gets pulled into it, too. God is an extension of the parent. He’s judgmental, vindictive, impossible to please, and he will betray us all, in the end.
We don’t matter, not really. We’re powerless. We just have to slog through this life and get to heaven, a concept we dissociate from because we don’t have the capacity to imagine any better. We’re cynical, harsh, and angry.
Yes? Well, let’s be very grateful for that anger. It is my belief that anger is our warning sign. It signifies that we’re trying to swallow something that is just not true. And this traumatized environment we all live in is replete with lies.
God is very ready to lead us into truth. We’ve work to do.
Reflection
What are some of the lies our wider culture believes? How do these lies impact you?
Prayer
Dear God, lies surround me: I’m not good enough; they are evil; You don’t exist or, worse yet, You exist but do not care for me; it’s not possible to know peace, joy, and true power in this “evil” culture. I’m left confused and angry.
This is not Your intention, Lord. This is not Your way. We humans are meant to put on the Mind of Christ! We are called to be immensely powerful, joyful, and bringers of peace.
Show me, God. Show me how to change, how to accept Your invitation to live differently, to be different. Show me the way that goes through trauma, and comes out shining. I want to shine, God. I want to see how others shine! Show me how. Amen!