God Is Not the Enemy

Many survivors of child sexual abuse struggle with church hurt on various levels. Sometimes the abuse happened in a religious setting, like a church or a camp. Sometimes when we looked for support and comfort in the church, we found blame and shame and burdens instead of deliverance. There are many different paths to healing, and Truth and godly Love can find each of us where we are. We don’t ever have to go into a church again—it is still true for us that evil cannot win.

Please don’t try to “scare us straight” by threatening us with scripture, tradition, expectations, or anything else. And don’t impede our progress by insisting that we have to fit into a particular devotional mold. There are many, many different ways to refer to God. Encourage survivors to search for the word or phrase that helps them most.

The name is not as important as the reality, which is that the Divine is never our enemy but is our closest Friend. Here are famous words from Julian of Norwich: “There is a force of Love moving through the universe that holds us fast and will never let us go.” This is the One who loves us most and best. No one ever has to earn that love, and no one can ever lose it.

There’s lots more to say! Please email me if you have comments or questions (Mary.Brown@SilenceBrokenNow.org). Thank you for helping with the important work of supporting survivors.

Photo by Ksenia Makagonova on Unsplash.com