Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Heal the Children, Heal the World

There is a lot of talk about what is wrong with the world and a lot of blame being thrown around. It’s them, it’s us, it’s the other guy, it’s the way of the world, and it’s our Creator’s fault. The only people who aren’t being singled out are the ones who are to blame. We are all the blame for the way the world is today. We should all step up and start taking responsibility for how we think, talk and treat others who may not be exactly like we are or believe what we believe. We should forget the differences and find what we have in common because I truly believe that we are all alike in many, many ways.

People like to say that we are born into an evil world. We are born into a sinful world. What a lie those two statements are. This world is evil and sinful only because we have made it that way.

How can we change the world? How can we heal the world? We need to start with ourselves first. We need to change ourselves first. We need to heal ourselves first. When we heal ourselves, we can start teaching the children better. Or maybe we should let the children teach us before they are ruined by all the violence and hatred that is around them every day. It has been said that the children are closer to heaven and our creator and that is true I think. You can see it in their eyes and you can see it in their smiles.

How do we heal ourselves? We start by healing our own child within. We all have a child within us and many of us have a wounded child that feels like they were never loved or understood. The child within is our very soul I think. When we can go within ourselves and heal that part of ourselves, we can begin to form a better world.

I spent many years studying various topics and psychology was one of those fields I studied. I read every book I could find on the subject. I have to admit that I prefer M. Scott Peck and Carl Jung to others who write about psychology. But that is my own personal preference because I feel they have helped me the most in my quest to understand myself and try and understand the past and some of the pain that I have carried with me for so many years.

Through the years I have felt that our Creator has led me on this path so maybe I could heal myself and maybe one day I could write about it here and now so I could help others who have suffered in life. We all suffer. No matter what anyone thinks, even behind a smile there is suffering many times. You can see it in the eyes.

I have also had dreams that I have remembered all my life. Those dreams have also been a part of my healing and a gift that I have received.

When I was 5 years old I had a dream that I was in a car with my mother. We were on a steep hill in Rapid City where I lived at the time. My mother was sitting in the passenger seat and I was trying to steer the car from the backseat. The car was swerving all over the place and I was doing my best to try and keep it from going over the edge of the road. I remember looking at my mother, who was sitting serenely in the passenger seat, not bothered at all and thinking, why am I driving? I’m just a kid.

Our lives have seemed like a bit of a joy ride by a 5-year-old. Things have seemed very out of control and I have felt that I had a lot of responsibility put on me even at a young age. But things have settled down through the years, all thanks to our Creator and I think my family is beginning to heal bit by bit.

When I was about 7 years old I had a dream that I was in a room that felt safe. There was a bed and a closet. I was sitting in the bed dressed in a white gown. The room was all white and there was a beautiful light in the room. I don’t remember if there was a door, but I remember windows that were up high in near the ceiling.

I heard someone calling my name. I had to jump on the bed to see out the window. I saw one of my brothers and my mother’s second husband outside in a park we used to go to all the time. They were both calling my name and looking for me.

I’ve wondered what that dream meant all these years and the meaning finally came to me a few days ago.

My mother’s second husband and my brother made my life hell. They both abused me in different ways and in similar ways for years. After my mother divorced her husband, my brother continued the abuse for many more years. It was like they were both trying to destroy me. But there was a part of me that was always safe in that room.

There was a part of me that our Creator protected all those years and I believe that we all have a part of us inside that has been kept safe. We just need to start going inside and let the healing begin.

I thank our Creator that he kept that part of me safe. If he hadn’t, I don’t know what would have happened to me.

Through the years I made mistakes and I suffered and struggled through, trying to find my way back to myself.

Through the books I’ve read and some therapy, prayer and some wonderful alone time I have spent with my friend, my heart, my love, my Creator, I have learned how to look within myself and begin to heal the pain that I have been carrying around for so many years.

Some other dreams I have had are about my own healing. The first dream came when I was 36 and I was living in New York. I had just finished another bad relationship and I had a dream that the guy was squatting down in a corner, glaring at me. There was a little girl there, my little girl, my wounded child, who said, “Daddy doesn’t love me.” The woman that I was then, held that little girl in her arms and told her, “That’s okay, because I love you.”

That was the beginning of my healing. Another thing that helped me to begin healing was something someone told me one day. She said, “It wasn’t your fault. You were a child. The adults were supposed to be taking care of you.”

I believe those of us who have suffered so much and even those who may not think they have suffered carry that wounded child with us. I also believe that our Creator can heal all wounds.

Some may argue about this. I know there will be a few or maybe there may be many. There always are those who don’t want to look at themselves. But if you look into the eyes of people around you and really listen to the people around you, you can see that wounded child. Many people who are near the end of their lives and have lived long lives carry that wounded child. I can see the pain in my mother’s eyes sometimes. I can hear it in her voice when she reacts to something that I have said or my brother has said. I can also see it in the eyes of other people in my family and I see it in in the eyes of some of the strangers I have met through the years.

If we stop focusing on the world outside of us and blaming the world and everyone else around us for all the problems, if we start taking responsibility and really take a look at ourselves, then we can begin the heal ourselves. Then we can begin to heal our world and then we can raise better children and make a better world for future generations.

This has been my hope, this is still my hope and it is a dream that I think can be realized if we all stop fighting among ourselves and start loving each other and forgiving each other the way our Creator forgives us and loves us.


© Pamela Sawyer, 2012


Tuesday, October 9, 2012

I Think I Know How Our Creator Feels


We are like children. It doesn’t matter how old we get, it seems we still act like children when it comes to our prayers.

Our Creator gives us His love; He gives us what we need. It isn’t enough for us. We want more. We treat Him like an ATM machine or Santa Claus. We want Him to give us things instead of trying to form a true loving, lasting friendship with Him.

Then, when He doesn’t answer our prayers the way we think He should answer our prayers, we go off mad and pout like the spoiled children that were are.
“Fine, if you won’t give me what I want, I will not talk to you!”

When we get punished, we are shocked and hurt. Then we start crying, “Why did you do this to me? Have mercy!”

I have a friend who has shown this to me recently and I thank our Creator for the lesson. I know that our Creator gives me what he knows is best for me. He takes care of me. He gives me what I need. And sometimes, He even gives me my heart’s desire. I pray that I can keep this lesson in my heart and forever be grateful for all the good things that He is doing in my life and all the good things he has done in the past. And when trials do come, as they will, I pray that I will see the lesson and not feel like I’m being punished.

Every day has its own trials and tests and I pray that I can keep my eyes on His love and the lessons He brings me and stop thinking about the rest.


© Pamela Sawyer, 2012