So much of the hurt that happens in religious contexts is kept quiet. We feel like we can't or shouldn't say anything about it - often because of exactly the teachings that brought us the pain in the first place that told us we had to keep it quiet.
"Our wounds, whatever they are, are made more powerful by the silence around them, voicelessness, at times the fear of disruption, or the internalized silencing of our voices being trapped by those with the most power, telling us not to trust what our pain told us. The naming of what has hurt us, is the very undoing of the cloak of invisibility that keeps the pain stuck. And this - the naming, the unveiling, the 'unsettling truth' as Mark Charles calls it - as painful as it is, this is central to how we heal our spiritual trauma." (Dr. Hillary McBride, Holy/Hurt Podcast, Episode 1: The House is Haunted)
I think this may be the hardest part at times. Putting words to the pain. Admitting it out loud.
But it's important and needed.
And it often just affirms what our bodies are already telling us.
"Our bodies always tells the truth. Even if we find a way to cover it up at first, the story always comes out - if not in our thoughts, or in our relationships, then always in our bodies." (Dr. Hillary McBride, Holy/Hurt Podcast, Episode 1: The House is Haunted)
But, in our silence, we've also been taught to mistrust our bodies. So we ignore what they're trying to tell us.
The healing that comes when we begin to break the silence with safe people in safe places is significant.
So, the silence must be broken. We cannot continue to live in silence about the pain that many are living with.
Even if it starts with faltering words, with unclear thoughts. As the silence is broken, healing can begin.
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