markdohle Posted March 6, 2018 #1 Share Posted March 6, 2018 Trauma in today’s world (A Christian’s perspective) A Lenten piece, written in 2015 When we see images of extreme violence on TV or on the internet, is it a form of trauma? About a year ago someone shared a YouTube video on Facebook. There was no warning about the nature of the clip and I right clicked it. Within five seconds I saw a man’s throat cut all the way back to his neck bone, then he was thrown into a grave and still alive, gasping and twitching. The men who did it calmly talked while he was bleeding out. This happened within 30 seconds of my click. I was so stunned that I could do nothing but watch it until the end. Then many watched an Iranian pilot being burned to death while he was trapped in a cage. Most of us saw the pictures I am sure. These images once seen can’t be forgotten by many if not most of us. Seeing violence in a movie is ‘make believe’, it is nothing like watching the real thing. I presume that is why I can’t watch movies about Viet Nam, not because I was there, but because it happened while I was in the Navy and I had two brothers over there. I also know many who still suffer from the after-effects of that war. Then the news about FergusonMo, and other cases like it must take a toll on most of us. How deep does it touch our souls? When the latest news about the 21 men killed by ISIS, merely because they were Christian, broke something in me, perhaps it is my heart, I have no idea. It was not that something died, but something came alive and I am not sure what it is. How is it that in the name of God, or some political ideology, or different shades of skin color, or even over sports, we can so easily kill one another? As I say this I know full well that I am capable of the same things. What if those of us who live in Atlanta were subjected over the years, even if sporadic, to rockets being lobbed into the city from Augusta? Or if from time to time suicide bombers were coming in and blowing up our buses. Or what if atheist and believers starting killing each other on a more or less regular basis, or let's say Republicans and Democrats? How would that affect the general population who were the victims of these assaults? What would our children and teenagers be like? I doubt they would be like they are now in the Atlanta area….they would act like children and teenagers but would be hardened, angry and fearful. We already see this in certain areas of any town or city. Places where violence over drugs, for instance, is common. How easy would it be for us to descend into violence towards one another if it went on for years or for generations? Each person on earth when they suffer, Christ suffers with them. When we hate one another or kill, it is Christ that we also hate and kill. I am not immune to being sucked into a mob mentality about the ‘enemy’. I suppose we are all an ‘enemy’ to some other faction. For me the only thing that keeps me from giving in to hatred is my clinging to Christ Jesus. In prayer, I can stop, reflect, take stock and ask for a larger more expansive and compassionate heart…..for a heart that is still armored in many ways. In Lent, we are called to not run from the intimacy that Christ is calling us to. To embrace the disorderliness of life as well as our part in creating that messiness and suffering…It may be the only way to stop these cycles that seem to take us over in spite of our best intentions. To become more human, less filled with fear and hate can be a long drawn out process…one that I am still on. Many people are truly gentle. I am not like that at all. For like many men there is still a sword carrying, instinct driven man of fear that lives deep within me. Though at my age I doubt I would be much of a fighter. So in the meantime, I pray and hope and wait. Christ Jesus is God, the creator of the incredibly vast universe, omnipresent, and at work in ways that I don’t understand in the hearts of all men and women. I believe that as Christians when we pray we should seek to become ever more conscious of our unity with all humanity and that in prayer we are really one with them because of Christ who identifies with the least, our enemies as well as with those we love. My community when I pray is with those who struggle to deal with their inner chaos without fear, as well as those who have been swallowed up by it. Christ Jesus is one with us. When we hate, kill, and torture or ignore another, it is Christ Jesus that we do these things too. “Whatever you do to the least of these, you do unto me.” So easy to forget this saying of Christ... way too easy, at least for me, I am not speaking for everybody, for that is impossible, I believe there are those who get it, we call them saints. I believe I have the honor of knowing a few of them. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piney Posted March 7, 2018 #2 Share Posted March 7, 2018 1 hour ago, markdohle said: When we see images of extreme violence on TV or on the internet, is it a form of trauma? About a year ago someone shared a YouTube video on Facebook. There was no warning about the nature of the clip and I right clicked it. Within five seconds I saw a man’s throat cut all the way back to his neck bone, then he was thrown into a grave and still alive, gasping and twitching. The men who did it calmly talked while he was bleeding out. This happened within 30 seconds of my click. I was so stunned that I could do nothing but watch it until the end. Try running humanitarian aid rather than the empty gesture called "praying". The sight isn't truly horrible until it's combined with the real life screams and groans of agony and the smell of blood, feces and rotting or burning flesh. Has this desensitized me as a Deist who looks at Christ in the same vein as Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. No! I am not traumatized either. I care even more. If you care so much about the state of the world get off your ass and do something about it... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Likely Guy Posted March 7, 2018 #3 Share Posted March 7, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, Piney said: If you care so much about the state of the world get off your ass and do something about it... I can't like that. Who are we to comment on Mark's situation? Edited March 7, 2018 by Likely Guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piney Posted March 7, 2018 #4 Share Posted March 7, 2018 12 minutes ago, Likely Guy said: I can't like that. Who are we to comment on Mark's situation? I don't care. It reads like something one of the "armchair social justice warriors" who suddenly started attending my Meeting would say while the elders who served in the "trenches" up to their butts in the horrors of the world looked on them in shame. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Likely Guy Posted March 7, 2018 #5 Share Posted March 7, 2018 2 hours ago, markdohle said: “Whatever you do to the least of these, you do unto me.” So easy to forget this saying of Christ... way too easy, at least for me, I am not speaking for everybody, for that is impossible, I believe there are those who get it, we call them saints. I believe I have the honor of knowing a few of them. A variant of the "Golden Rule"? People are capable of both the most horrible, yet the most wondrous things. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Likely Guy Posted March 7, 2018 #6 Share Posted March 7, 2018 1 minute ago, Piney said: I don't care. It reads like something one of the "armchair social justice warriors" who suddenly started attending my Meeting would say while the elders who served in the "trenches" up to their butts in the horrors of the world looked on them in shame. That I can like because that's your perspective. Mark, (if you don't mind me saying) is an older monk, that's just his perspective. Both are valid because they come from experience. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piney Posted March 7, 2018 #7 Share Posted March 7, 2018 Just now, Likely Guy said: That I can like because that's your perspective. Mark, (if you don't mind me saying) is an older monk, that's just his perspective. Both are valid because they come from experience. I can understand that. I didn't know he was a monk. Monastery life is very sheltered from the world. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Likely Guy Posted March 7, 2018 #8 Share Posted March 7, 2018 2 minutes ago, Piney said: I can understand that. I didn't know he was a monk. Monastery life is very sheltered from the world. And he's older. It's not like he can "Rip the World a New One"! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piney Posted March 7, 2018 #9 Share Posted March 7, 2018 Just now, Likely Guy said: And he's older. It's not like he can "Rip the World a New One"! I think at 50 it's time for me to stop..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Likely Guy Posted March 7, 2018 #10 Share Posted March 7, 2018 Just now, Piney said: I think at 50 it's time for me to stop..... Hell no, that's just the dawn of our second childhood... the Golden age. It's the age when we stop caring about ourselves so much and start caring more about others. Don't deprive the next generation of valid life lessons. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piney Posted March 7, 2018 #11 Share Posted March 7, 2018 Just now, Likely Guy said: Hell no, that's just the dawn of our second childhood... the Golden age. It's the age when we stop caring about ourselves so much and start caring more about others. Don't deprive the next generation of valid life lessons. No I mean running around battlefields and ghettos like a Quaker medic maniac. Bullet wounds don't heal as fast. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Likely Guy Posted March 7, 2018 #12 Share Posted March 7, 2018 1 minute ago, Piney said: No I mean running around battlefields and ghettos like a Quaker medic maniac. Bullet wounds don't heal as fast. Hell yeah, time to retire at that point maybe and no one could begrudge you. Life comes in many different flavours. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piney Posted March 7, 2018 #13 Share Posted March 7, 2018 4 minutes ago, Likely Guy said: Hell yeah, time to retire at that point maybe and no one could begrudge you. Life comes in many different flavours. I'm still climbing and falling widowmakers using the old school method. That's enough. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Likely Guy Posted March 7, 2018 #14 Share Posted March 7, 2018 49 minutes ago, Piney said: I'm still climbing and falling widowmakers using the old school method. That's enough. Widowmakers, barber chairs and cat faces. You're east coast and I'm west coast and we still know what the other is talking about. Even though no one else does. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markdohle Posted March 7, 2018 Author #15 Share Posted March 7, 2018 (edited) 12 hours ago, Piney said: Try running humanitarian aid rather than the empty gesture called "praying". The sight isn't truly horrible until it's combined with the real life screams and groans of agony and the smell of blood, feces and rotting or burning flesh. Has this desensitized me as a Deist who looks at Christ in the same vein as Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. No! I am not traumatized either. I care even more. If you care so much about the state of the world get off your ass and do something about it... Like your passion...... Peace Mark Edited March 7, 2018 by markdohle 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markdohle Posted March 7, 2018 Author #16 Share Posted March 7, 2018 11 hours ago, Piney said: I don't care. It reads like something one of the "armchair social justice warriors" who suddenly started attending my Meeting would say while the elders who served in the "trenches" up to their butts in the horrors of the world looked on them in shame. Could be some truth to what you are saying. I often write from my own inner struggles......good observation my friend. Peace mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markdohle Posted March 7, 2018 Author #17 Share Posted March 7, 2018 10 hours ago, Piney said: I can understand that. I didn't know he was a monk. Monastery life is very sheltered from the world. Actually, we are not, that is a false stereotype. We do live a different kind of life, but it is not sheltered. Peace Mark 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markdohle Posted March 7, 2018 Author #18 Share Posted March 7, 2018 10 hours ago, Likely Guy said: And he's older. It's not like he can "Rip the World a New One"! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piney Posted March 7, 2018 #19 Share Posted March 7, 2018 1 hour ago, markdohle said: Actually, we are not, that is a false stereotype. We do live a different kind of life, but it is not sheltered. Peace Mark My apologies. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markdohle Posted March 7, 2018 Author #20 Share Posted March 7, 2018 1 hour ago, Piney said: My apologies. No need, you are an honest soul :: -) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piney Posted March 7, 2018 #21 Share Posted March 7, 2018 4 minutes ago, markdohle said: No need, you are an honest soul :: -) That's what got me 3 years in the worst prison in New Jersey. I started to see my father's (our Chief) corruption and he needed to rid himself of me. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now