Wicked Ways...

"But to the wicked, God says:

What right have you to recite my laws

or take my covenant on your lips?

You hate my instruction

and cast my words behind you.

When you see a thief, you join with him;

You throw in your lot with adulterers

You use your mouth for evil

and harness your tongue to deceit.

You speak continually against your

brother

and slander your own mothers son.

These things you have done and I kept

silent;

you thought I was altogether like you.

But I will rebuke you

and accuse you to. your face.

Consider this, you who forget God,

or I will tear you to pieces, with none to rescue."

Psalm 49:16-23

Once more into the fray...standing, speaking, guarding, educating, correcting with kindness, with aplomb but alongside determination unequalled in days gone by.

I take time to rest...I take time to reflect, to check a heart still mending, still healing, still appearing as Frankensteins monster, a patchwork of bandages and scars...

I take time to purpose within my mind the goals I set out to achieve and continue with work already in place...I think on my children and spend time seeking Gods face while I work with my hands on projects for them...

I take time to think on humanity and the examples set forth by some mighty names in history...and a lot of regular everyday people who set out to do good, to do no evil nor harm to fellow man.. It does not mean they are weak or unwilling to meet violence with violence if no other choice is offered...no, they stand tall with confidence, with strength ready to fight for peace if peace is interrupted, interfered with, sabotaged or taken from them with intent.

Being kind, courteous, gracious and compassionate does not bestow the inability to fight back or the readiness to stand in the gap when necessary. It means they have the emotional maturity to know when to fight, when to walk away and when to take it to them.

I have witnessed more maturity in young people, children even, than in the one left behind...

I think on my oldest brother...shorter by inches than the second brother and lighter by a good forty pounds...gracious, kind, long-suffering of his younger siblings, nevertheless a day came that he told his brother that it was time and to meet him outside.

This...oh my friends, this is how we dealt with our issues back in the day. We'd talk and discuss and when that didn't work we went straight to fisticuffs....

That day was a time for surprises...for the shock upon my brothers face and a mix of siblings and friends from the neighbourhood counted at least 8 between the four of us, we had never heard this patient brother speak so, but when push came to shove and the torment and bullying didn't stop he knew it was time to put an end to the behaviour.

Out they went while the rest of us plastered ourselves at the big dining room window, surreptitiously we thought but as obvious as the nose on our faces...I witnessed a fight that I will never forget. Calmly, but methodically, my oldest brother took his younger brother down a notch, and with little to no effort.

You see my friends...it isn't that we don't fight or use violence because we are afraid...oh no, it is because we know what can be done. We are more afraid of ourselves and the harm that could be done.

From that day forward I saw a respect there that had previously not been present...the tormenting and bullying stopped cold turkey.

We stand or we fall...I think back on the times I had the chance to do great harm...trigger points within the human body known through medical practice...we fear the monster, we do...and for good reason...that reason? The one they never talk about? In order to stop the psychopathic behaviours and not suffer the consequences of more rage after fighting back...is to take them down so they can't get back up.

We do not wish in any way to be LIKE THEM...in any way. And so we continue on in a broken spirit, taking the hits, taking the licks, the beatdowns until one day the resolve to fight back is gone. The thought of evil and its proclivities for perverse pleasure in all forms drives us to be the opposite in nature...as far as the East is from the West kind of difference.

There is no easy answers in regards to abuse...mental, physical, emotional, sexual or all the above...the reasons are varied and personal to the victim surrounded by moats infested with crocodiles, and the broken souls of past, present and future narcissistic supply.

They live with rage for past wrongs, past imagined betrayals and wounds inflicted in self-defence, in self-protection...being held accountable is seen as lying, inflicting the heart and mind despite their behaviours show-casing who exactly is at fault and holds all the responsibility for cheating, betraying, beating, lying, sexual abuse and promiscuity...

A true champion of gaslighting to deflect, defame, distract and sidetrack while they 'live how they want.'

It is far past time to take a stand for women living in abuse and against perpetrators walking amongst us...no more lazy prosecutors doing the bare minimum for the half million they make each year...rather see a thousand guilty go free than see one innocent person get wrongly convicted, from the mouth of the horse as they say.

It is rampant, without a doubt the worst case of apathy, neglect, abandonment and sheer laziness I have ever been witness to.

Someone within your circle of friends or family is at this moment enduring abuse...don't believe me? Studies, statistics, bean counters united to come up with a staggering number of women living with trafficking, sexual abuse, physical/mental/emotional/physcial abuse each day...seventy percent of women that escape their abusers, end up dead. Don't believe me? Another sticky statistic that makes it extremely difficult to ignore the flashing neon signs that are ignored daily, by the authorities, by prosecution, by family and on the list goes.

May God show clearly a way to help...to stand in the gap, to stand with that person who is going through hellacious moments with no judgement, no pressure, no timeline or I pull the plug attitude...if you knew...if you knew what women endure it sit you on your ever lovin' *ss. Truly.

It has sat me on mine when I listen to other women share their personal stories..the courage it takes to continue to advocate for yourself and educate those who are ignorant of trauma and the toll it takes on a body, on the mind, on the heart and spirit...each step a monumental effort...dragging this baggage behind you that you bat away as you try to continue along, but it only comes back harder and faster...being pulled back in by the stalking bastard, the sleazy profile making with your pictures, the messages promising to beat your face in when they see you, the posts meant to cruelly hurt and maim when in fact they are seen as pathetic, laughable and ridiculous... a small town smoke show, all show no go.

May your heart be kind...your mind a place of safety...your spirit a welcoming balm to those who ache with the pain of not knowing who they are anymore. God bless your compassion and grace with each person you come in contact with.