Let today be the day




Let today be the day.   

you look at your anger and self-loathing, 


your anxiety and depression, neurosis, obessions and compulsions.  


Look at them and see them…not as demons, 


but as the traumatized children they are.  


Then tell them Thank-you.  


In their own way they’ve tried to protect and nourish you, to soothe and motivate you.  


They didn’t know how, but they tried.  So Thank-you


If they are crying out to you now, tuck them in bed, kiss them on head and whisper…


“Go to sleep, little ones. Mama’s got this. “


Then wake up in yourself the children of compassion.  


These children who are kind, fierce, curious, sustaining and beautiful.     


These sweet little ones need your attention now. 


They’ve been weak and malnourished.


You’ve always given so much to the children of trauma that you’ve had nothing left for these others.  


So feed them now, kiss them and let them play.  Let them grow and stand beside you.   


Walk hand in hand with them.


Let today be the day.


Comments

pj said…
I love this. It's something I want to refer to again and again. It is packed with real hard-won wisdom.
December 20, 2021 at 9:38 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Eating SDA Style

(This is an essay I wrote for part of a Cultural Memoir Assignment) One former Adventist friend of mine always says, “It was the table that fed me” in referring to our shared Seventh-day Adventist background. My friend was referring to the morals, values and spirituality of Seventh-day Adventism that we still hold onto, even though we disagree with the Church in many ways. I, however, can’t help but think of feeding in the literal sense. Seventh-day Adventism did truely feed us, but in very unusual ways. Seventh-day Adventists have something they refer to as the “Health Message.” Just like the Mormons we have our very own prophet, only she was a woman and not a polygamist. Ellen White encouraged healthy living and vegetarianism in the Seventh-day Adventist church. In many ways this has been a blessing to the church. Adventists who follow the health message are some of the longest living folks in the nation. On the other hand it has brought a spirit of legalistic infighting ove...
Read more

Penguins and the Big Bang

I have become a neophyte science geek. When I started my journey away from Adventism I didn't realize I would become a nerd. Initially all my thinking was wrapped up around moral and spiritual questions. As I became more comfortable in my own semi-buddhist agnostic skin an unintended side-effect took place. I blame it on The March of the Penguins. I saw this movie with my Kindergarteners. Without my creationist goggles on I really started to marvel at how the penguins came to be. I researched penguins for quite awhile afterwards. Then I started researching amphibians for a thematic unit. I must have watched this video of the Surinam Toad over and over again. Sooo gross but soooo cool! Next I blame auto-tune. For some reason I was watching videos that had been auto-tuned and I came across this one with Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking. Funny but strangely moving. Then i started reading about the vastness of space and the galaxies and the big bang. Radio Lab has b...
Read more

Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire

On June 15 I got a letter in the mail stating that my name had officially been removed from the membership rolls of the Seventh-Day Adventist church per my request. It was a nice form letter, very respectful of my choice, and I give the church kudos for it. So, just a few short days latter the General Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists rolled into my town, and so did many friends and family members, some from ages past. Of course I had to go to the GC. You don't often get the chance to catch up with so many people from various stages of your life. That part was wonderful. The exhibit hall was wonderful too, with lots of color and sound and pretty display booths, many which were promoting amazing things like health outreach, ministry to the poor (Go ADRA!!) and general "light unto the world" kind of stuff. I went to the first weekend's Sabbath service with a family member who was staying with us. The Sabbath School was fairly uplifting and it reminded us to re...
Read more