We’re Crossing Over

We Are Crossing Over

By: Susan Deborah Schiller

Thousands of years ago God put into place a plan to save every family – every man, woman, and child. It's an ongoing story that was first recorded in the Old Testament, with "cities of refuge" and family "redeemers". I write more about this stratege at "The Avengers".

It's a strategy for justice, for both victims and perpetrators, which creates an abuse-free zone in every community. We don't employ that strategy today, but we could each start by understanding that in God's justice system the victims get payback – a double portion, even.

Because you got a double dose of trouble 
    and more than your share of contempt, 

Your inheritance in the land will be doubled
    and your joy go on forever. – Isaiah 61:7

This is our inheritance: Every abuse is turned into something Good and Beautiful.

I believe God is raising up Dread Champions who are using their inheritance, like David's Mighty Men. We've been trained in the desert. We've been behind enemy lines. We are survivors of the worst kind of abuse: religious sociopaths. Our weapon is our writing.

In writing our stories, we are breaking the shame barrier. Instead of silence, we are getting our voices back. Instead of cover up, we are exposing. Instead of cowering, we are gaining the courage to confront evil forces. Our presence causes evil to flee in seven directions.

We are His peacemakers. We cry out for justice. We rescue victims. We go after the one who was shunned and abandoned. We doctor the wounds.

We are using our inheritance to rewrite our future and to create our world.

In reading a best seller book called "Little Bee" by Chris Cleave, about correcting injustice, in part, through journalism. The journalist in the book said to Little Bee, a Nigerian woman who escaped the genocide of her village, that they needed to write the stories of the survivors.

Little Bee replied: "You know it is not a good idea to collect stories."

Sarah shook her head, "I don't agree. I think it's the only way we'll make you safe… Our problem is that you only have your own story. One story makes you weak. But as soon as we have one hundred stories, you will be strong. If we can show that what happened to your village happened to a hundred villages, then the power is on our side. We need to collect the stories of people who've been through the same things as you. We need to make it undeniable…."

In Sue Monk Kidd's best-seller called "The Dance of the Dissident Daughter," she writes:

"The truth is, in order to heal we need to tell our stories and have them witnessed. 'All sorrows can be borne if we put them in a story or tell a story about them,' said Isak Dinesen, a writer who had plenty of sorrow and told stories to bear it. The story itself becomes a vessel that holds us up, that sustains, that allows us to order our jumbled experiences into meaning….

"I also needed to hear other women's stories in order to see and embrace my own. Sometimes another woman's story becomes a mirror that shows me a self I haven't seen before. When I listen to her tell it, her experience quickens and clarifies my own. Her questions rouse mind. Her conflicts illumine my conflicts. Her resoutions call forth my hope. Her strengths summon my strengths. All of this can happen even when our stories and our lives are very different.

"Solidarity is identifying with one another without feeling like you have to agree on every issue. It's unity, not uniformity. It's listening without rushing in to fix the problem. It's going deeper than typical ways of talking and sharing – going down to the place where souls meet and love comes, where separateness drops away and you know these women because you are these women." — Sue Monk Kidd (bold mine)

Instead of blaming, shaming, and shunning, I want to hear ringing in our ears: "Beloved child, you are Home. Your story is our story and our story is your story. We are all One in Christ. We want to hear your voice. Shout if must. Cry if you need to. Sing, draw, write! We need you, beloved one."

Nothing changes unless we change. The Word of God, a sword in your hand, is "living and active and sharper than a double-edged sword…." 

Faith is using God's Word to tell a story that creates a better world.

In fact, the more I write, the more I get well.

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With all my love,

Sue

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Tagged as: Choosing Love Today, Deborah White Dove, Getting Your Life Back, Rewriting the Future, Voice of the Bride