Trauma and disease; both of which have the ability to cause tremendous heartache, pain, and suffering; yet, each are treated decidedly different by society. When a person's body is harmed by cancer or some other physical illness they have support groups, awareness campaigns, they can even say they are "kicking cancer's ass." The person can cry, fuss, and have facebook pages about their illness and how awful it is. They are able to discuss all the damage their illness has caused and is it completely socially acceptable.
When someone's body, heart, or mind is harmed by another person, they are told to forgive, to let God handle them, to rise above it. Their trauma is made ugly and secret. To speak out is to cause harm to another human or to talk badly about the other human. The problem is everyone seems to forget why they are crying in the first place. There is no place where it is ok to say, "This person did this very horrible thing to me," because that is gossip and badmouthing. But what about the bad that happened? Without a way to be let out it crawls within that person and rips them to shreds over and over again. That is truly a terrible place to be, an awful way to feel, and very very lonely.
It is for that reason that a few years ago I decided to speak out and up. I decided to acknowledge my pain and call out those who caused it. While I have faced criticism and received a few "What would Jesus do" lectures, that is ok with me. The sadness of knowing I disappointed someone who doesn't understand is nothing compared to the fear and isolation of living with unacknowledged pain. And as for Jesus, Jesus called things as they were. He named people's pain. He interceeded when bullies showed their ugly heads. He said no to secrets and monsters that come even in the daytime and I will too.
