A Life of Grace

Vigan Cathedral (Cultural Heritage ID PH01-0045), Philippines, Author GRMondala (CC BY-SA 4.0 International)

WARNING: Graphic Images

Perhaps you were molested or physically abused as a child, again and again violated or beaten to a bloody pulp by those who should have loved you, who perhaps even said they did.

Or you were ignored, left to fend entirely for yourself in a huge and frightening world when you most needed protection and comfort for your fears, assurances that someday the world would be a more manageable place.

Or you were callously used and manipulated in ways you could not then understand, and have spent years trying to untangle.

As an adult, you still bear the scars — physical and emotional; still wrestle with your demons despite years of therapy. You still at times despise yourself for this, as if the fault were yours.

At certain moments, the specter of what might have been rises painfully before you. You might have met Prince Charming, a man who would have sympathized with your past instead of brutalizing you further. You might have had children. They would be 10 years old now, 20 years old, 30 years old. All the milestones missed break your heart.

You made your share of mistakes. They haunt you, as well. Some you repeated. But you did not repeat them as often as you might have. And you did not ever harm a child, did not ever inflict on a child what was inflicted on you.

However many years may have passed, you can still live a life of grace, a life that has meaning in God’s eyes, whether the world ever recognizes it or not. You can still pour your love into work and service for others, still find a need and fill it, still say a prayer for someone less fortunate.

You managed somehow to survive when others did not. That is an achievement worth celebrating.

All those who ever lived bore scars. One in particular gained His at Golgatha. Our scars may have been acquired elsewhere. But they are no less badges of honor for that, rather than shame. They are proof positive of our endurance and of our strength.

Share your heart. Share your talents. Share your story. Live that life.

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