Child Sexual Abuse

Oprah says the graphic details should be hard for people to hear. “We are supposed to hear it, and we are supposed to, where appropriate, see it because that is the only way it ever gets changed,” she says. “It’s one thing for us to hear it. It’s another thing for children to have to endure it. I think for us to turn away, to not to listen, to not to observe, means you turn away from the problem.”

I hate to say it, but she is right. I don’t know how many times I have heard people say, “I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to know about it. I can’t handle it.” It makes me angry when I hear things like that. Why? Because I have to live with the “graphic details” of what happened to me every single second of every single day. I don’t have a choice. Too many people in my life turned away, chose not to listen, and were blind to what was happening. They turned away from the problem instead of meeting it head on. If they had chosen a different path, then maybe, just maybe, I would have had a different life.

Folks, child abuse of any kind is ugly, horrible, traumatizing, and down right disgusting. It creates havoc in a person’s life from the moment of the first incident and for years later. We all need to stop tiptoeing around this issue because it makes us feel uncomfortable. We need to recognize it for what it is and do something about it instead of turning our heads away from it because it makes us feel uncomfortable. 

While I recognize that we, sadly, can’t stop people from abusing children; and we should never stop trying because of that; we can help those who have been abused by helping them to heal. We can listen even if it is ugly and creates ugly pictures in our minds. We can help to soothe wounded souls by creating a safe place for them. We can show the love of Christ by simply choosing to become involved in another’s pain. 

Ask yourself, “what would Jesus do”? Would he say, “I don’t want to hear it, I can’t handle it, I don’t want to know about it because it makes me feel uncomfortable.”? I am so very thankful that he knows every minute detail of what happened to me, and that He still wants to hear it no matter how many times I need to talk about it. That’s how healing takes place in a life that has been devastated by abuse. He will never, ever say to me, “I don’t want to hear it”.

I thank God that He provided a Christian therapist who has and continues to walk the road of healing with me and who has shown me Christ’s love in the process. He knew that I need someone with “skin” to talk to and listen. If we all would chose to be uncomfortable and step in to help those who are hurting in any way, instead of shying away from it, or telling them to just pray more, or have more faith, or put the past behind them, or just look at them like they are some psycho, then this world truly could be a better place. I challenge you!