Sexual abuse took place.
By someone who was trusted.
By someone who should have been trustworthy.
By someone put in authority by a church. A place that should have been safe and whose people should also have been safe.
He was not.
One, a grown man with a responsible job of note. One a child, who, out of fear, kept silent.
The child remained mute, the man remained trusted, trustworthy, in authority in the church.
The day came when the 'story' came to light. But only a small light, a feeble light. The child told the Pastor. The Pastor asked the man. The man confessed.
But, the man was sorry, so he was dismissed with a 'go forth and sin no more' and the light instead of becoming the intense glare of a spotlight turned on in the presence of those who represent not God's authority, but man's, was extinguished.
Not just put in the dark but covered in silence.
Sealed in silence by fear and threats.
A silence so deep and so profound that it entombed a child.
A silence so complete that no one heard the child.
A conspiracy of silence.
A shroud of shame transferred to a victim who wore it for many years.
But
that child has become a man.
He has found his voice.
He will use it for justice, not only his own, but for those whose pain he has lived and understands.
... let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
Sadly Justice does not seem to roll down like waters. There are many dams that need to be dismantled.
ReplyDeleteSo very true. I was just thinking about the awesome power of water in nature to transform a surrounding. Perhaps it is in the volume that is needed, so perhaps the voices of many will eventually transform. Thank you for reading this and commenting.
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