Feelings!

Yes, there is much mental suffering abounding these days. Confusion with gender etc. The example of Dissociative Identity Disorder actually provides a good reason why we need to both listen to these people and have compassion. It is a perfect example of how all mental illness are rooted in unprocessed trauma. It forms only in early childhood in response to terrible, terrible injustice and trauma. Who can blame a person for not enduring their trauma with Christ when Christ has not been shown to them in childhood? This is naturally the fallout of not raising our children in God. Christians, it is not rooted in Truth. But there is reason for compassion. We need to avoid being condemnatory. Too much truth without love is pharisaical. I, myself have fallen into this trap at times. These people have been through hell and have not known the true Christ to help them through that place. We, on the contrary, have been blessed in life. Even if we have also been through hell, we have had Christ to guide us. Let us then, be pillars. Let us not be mockers and bullies. If you have Christ, then you have a grave responsibility. These are people who are the least of all. These are the poor in spirit. Not people materially poor. It’s not in love to call someone crazy who has been through more than any of the world you have ever known. Yes, maybe they are crazy. So are you in some ways. At the same time, we must be prudent. We need be vigilant and assess the fruit. What I am saying, Christian, is that love never forsakes. Love never abandons and disregards. Love is patient and allows the work of judgement to God. It is unfortunately true. Many who have chosen these paths are in the process of being lost. Some will never return. However, if there were only fifty people, of all of these people who were only confused and mislead, would it not be worth reaching out and persevering for them in evangelism? Forgive me, but if there were forty-five, would it be worthy of persevering in evangelizing? Pardon my boldness, but if there were only five, would it be still worthy of persevering in evangelizing for these souls? I remember hearing a voice, nearly a decade ago that told me that the time for evanglization is over. People have made their choice, it said. I quickly recognized it not of God. The fact is, Christian, we are called to help the poor in Spirit, to proclaim the Gospel until the very end, in our words and in our lives. Perhaps the greatest lesson that it teaches is that feelings are not always based in truth. Still, feelings are certainly important. Remember the Father, leaving the 99 to search for the 1 lost. It's meaningless. Let us prudently then share the Gospel with these. Let us not become caught up in hammering them with the Truth. The Truth will be a hammer in of itself enough. Healing is coming!

The Possibility of Vulnerability: A poem by Joshua Hope

How can I know if it's real?

I'll tell you.

Frozen snapshots of reality,

Etched into the walls of my mind.

A reality that whispers,

So distant,

So near, 

As if from another galaxy,

All the while, standing right here,

A reality that whispers in a shout,

'Not until they realize.

Erecting stone fortresses,

Buttresses of my happiness. 

Withholding happiness for sake

of an ersatz righteousness.

In my drive for holiness,

I have forgotten my humanness. 

My humanity, a forgotten, distant

Element of my existence.

I know it's real.

I know it's real because of the 

Lengths I go to keep the need 

Forgotten and distant.

Until it is realized,

I will keep this wall strong.

When they realize, they will realize 

the type of help I need.

The key to my heart, they whisper.

Vulnerability. 

A whisper secretly cries,

'Rescue me. I am so alone.'

Rescue me. If only they knew. 

What happened.

If only I had have told long ago, 

The entire world would have rescued me.

Vulnerability,

My heart's plea. 

I desire to be free.

This fortress overtakes me.

I don't know where to begin.

Or how to navigate this endless sea, 

Without a compass, 

Navigating an endless eternity. 

Then, suddenly,

This eternity, endless sea of time

Lights up as a supernova. 

Possibility.

Remnants of creation, 

Peering back, back in time

To the most eternal galaxy.

You step in.

You take my hand.

You show me how to take a step towards being free.

You open my heart to the possibility of vulnerability.

Yet, whispering, in your love, I cry,

'How can I know if it's real?

Without community?

Without human love guiding me?

Making the love you have for me

True.'

You smile. 

And you say to me,

'Wait and see!'

Open your heart to the possibility of vulnerability.

I will take care of the rest.

Open your heart to the possibility of being free.