Letters from prison

Letters from prison
Excerpt:
...To do this they have written letters to Pope Francis, thanking him for his gesture of love and service, praying for him – as he has asked all of us to do, describing the sadness of their lives in detention, and asking for prayers to help them endure the darkness and hopelessness of their situations… As father Kennedy points out, some of these youngsters will spend the rest of their lives in prison.

We welcome their voices and publish the letters that will be read at a service Thursday evening with the Director of Novices and 11 Jesuit novices, each one washing the feet of an inmate at the juvenile hall where kids are sentenced as adults.


Dear Pope Francis,
Thank you for washing the feet of youth like us in Italy.
We also are young and made mistakes.
Society has given up on us, thank you
that you have not given up on us.


Dear Pope Francis,
I think you are a humble man.
When you read this letter you will have washed the feet of other kids like.
I am writing this letter because you give me hope.
I know one day with people like you us kids
won't be given sentences that will keep us in prison
for the rest of our lives.
I pray for you. Dont forget us.


Dear Pope Francis,
I don't know if you have ever been to where I live.
I have grown up in a jungle of gangs and drugs and violence.
I have seen people killed. I have been hurt.
We have been victims of violence.
It is hard to be young and surrounded by darkness.

Eloi, Eloi

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may [a]be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Therefore [b]you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. 
Matthew 5:43-48 New American Standard Bible (NASB) 

The Crucifixion // Diego Rodriguez de Silva Velazquez // (1599-1660) // Oil on canvas, c.1632
[Scanopia.com]

Anecdotal Evidence: `We Are Wiser Than We Were Before'

Anecdotal Evidence: `We Are Wiser Than We Were Before'
Excerpt:

“And something in his way of telling it—

The language, or the tone, or something else—

Gripped like insidious fingers on her throat,

And then went foraging as if to make

A plaything of her heart. Such undeserved

And unsophisticated confidence

Went mercilessly home; and had she sat

Before a looking glass, the deeps of it

Could not have shown more clearly to her then

Than one thought-mirrored little glimpse had shown,

The pang that wrenched her face and filled her eyes

With anguish and intolerable mist.”

We Are One: Embrace the unexpected

We Are One: Embrace the unexpected

Anecdotal Evidence: `But at Least I'm Still Breathing'

Anecdotal Evidence: `But at Least I'm Still Breathing'
Excerpt:

Describing how he felt in 1966 after a year of cancer treatments, Sissman writes near the conclusion of “A Little Night Music: The Curvature of the Earth,” remembering: 

“…the increased sensitivity of my personal emulsion to the otherwise quite ordinary things in life. I could be startled, for almost purely asexual reasons, by the great spectacle of a young girl smiling; I could be transported by the odor (for example) of thyme crushed underfoot; I could be moved, almost embarrassingly, by the sound of a friend’s voice over the telephone; I could be stunned by the first Macoun apple of the fall.”

Skopeji: I Will Have Mercy on Whom I Will Have Mercy

Skopeji: I Will Have Mercy on Whom I Will Have Mercy

We Are One: C-PTSD

We Are One: C-PTSD
Excerpt:
ome coping methods
1. Hold onto a special object, put your feet on the ground, touch something around you, or hold someone’s hand to bring yourself back into the here and now. (I like to make coffee. I don’t drink it all, but the process is so routine and soothing, and I love the smell)
2. Remind yourself that you’re safe now; the traumatic event isn’t happening again. (take mental pictures, step back and just look)
3. Listen to soothing music. (in headphones, overrides negative thoughts, in room is just annoying to me)
4. Write in your journal. (Blog!)
5. One of my favorites: get your partner (if you have one) to lie beside you and hold your hand or massage your neck or back.
6. Go for a walk. (I hate going outside when I feel like that)
7. Do an easy and repetitive activity. Some suggestions include playing solitaire, knitting, doing crossword puzzles: basically anything that provides a distraction. (My computer games!)
8. Practice deep breathing. Breath in through your nose and out through your mouth, making whatever noise feels good on the exhale.
9. Cry. (Lots and lots of crying)
10. Give yourself permission to feel terrible. Struggling only makes things worse. (this one is hard, super hard. working on this one)
One of the shockers for me after integration, C-PTSD was still a part of who I am.  I thought integration meant that the C-PTSD went away.  I was furiously angry when I found out otherwise.  The next stunning surprise was to find out that multiple personalities was how I coped with C-PTSD. It was my magic carpet to zoom me to another place where pain ceased to exist.  The horror ceased to exist.  The nightmares ceased to exist.  I was once asked why I didn't use drugs...Why?  I didn't need them to disappear.  My own mind let me cease to exist. My own mind let me cease to exist. Imagine Aladin racing across the desert on his magic carpet and a giant hand yanked the rug out from under him.  Yup.  After the euphoria of succeeding in integrating, it was kind of like that.   I came to Earth with a bump and a crash.  KavinCoach smiled benignly and said, "Welcome to my world."  I let him know in very short order that I thought his world SUCKED.  Then a whole new type of learning began...

Vet who saved many in Iraq couldn't escape demons - Yahoo! News

Vet who saved many in Iraq couldn't escape demons - Yahoo! News
Excerpt:  [May you rest in peace, Captain...]
Pete Linnerooth, Bronze Star recipient, admired Army captain...
He was, as one buddy says, the guy who could help everybody — everybody but himself.
___
He liked to jokingly compare himself to an intrepid explorer stranded in one of the most remote corners of the earth.

Abbey-Roads: Holy Father Francis Visits Madonna Salus Populi Romani

Abbey-Roads: Holy Father Francis Visits Madonna Salus Populi Romani
Excerpt:
His first official act...
He slipped into the Basilica of St. Mary Major around 8 AM to present his votive offering to Our Lady.  

JOY IN BUENOS AIRES | Fox News

JOY IN BUENOS AIRES | Fox News
Excerpt:
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina –  TV presenters in Argentina screamed on the air and cars in the street blared their horns at the news that an Argentine cardinal had been chosen as the new pope.
"It's incredible!" said Martha Ruiz, 60, who was weeping with emotion in Buenos Aires after learning that the cardinal she knew as Jorge Mario Bergoglio will now be Pope Francis.
She said she had been in many meetings with him. "He is a man who transmits great serenity," she said.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/03/13/joy-in-buenos-aires/#ixzz2NSRSVfUi

Our Lady's Tears: Mary at the Foot of the Cross

Our Lady's Tears: Mary at the Foot of the Cross

*Little Adam, holy martyr of the Altar in Iraq, pray for us.*

You can heal...

You are NOT alone: Dig Deep-I Believe in YOU...
From Comments: Secondary Victimization causes people with mental handicaps to become isolated from society, both due to social rejection by others, as well as for safety from abusers who take advantage of their vulnerability-- or who simply refuse to respect the hurting person's vulnerability because of stigma or to gain power. In sum, people with mental handicaps are the most oppressed group in society, since they are most powerless, and society does not always effectively give them the support and protection given to other groups who need it.

As a result, Victim-blaming and Secondary Victimization are common against those with mental handicaps, even by their own families; meanwhile others reject them from consideration of any relationship-- even by public servants who take advantage of the person's political powerlessness to refuse assistance, such as police or other refusing protection based on their own disdain.

This is a common abuse of power, which is why the mentally ill were the first victims of the Holocaust. Yes, it's always easier to blame the victim than the perpetrator, and people with mental handicaps are the most disadvantaged group, due to stigma, poverty, vulnerability, isolation and powerlessness; i.e. the laws are stacked against them, and they can't access the legal system as well as most others. Also it's always easy to claim that the person is deriving "secondary gains" from it-- i.e. trying to manipulate people by exhibiting symptoms.This abuse is seen in any power-based regime--including families.

Blaming the victim are doctrines found all through the DSM of the psychiatric association. It's influenced throughout the world by many simple things spoken that actually silences the witness or victim of any foul play. Society is actually taught to attack those who are weakened and deem them the undesirables. Many things in the DSM label those who are victimized as though they are the ones to be blamed. Basically the system is saying, it's your fault your hurt, no one can hurt you unless you allow it, sad...

[Tell that to a three-year-old child.] Again, this is victim-blaming, and it goes back to the days when people were said to be "possessed by demons" and were persecuted for "dealing with Satan" etc. Later, they were said to be "faking it" in order to get out of work, etc. This also leads to "secondary victimization," i.e. persecuting the person for their condition in various ways.

It's important to realize you have a real condition, and to seek proper medical treatment as well as support. Avoid those who blame you for it!

This is called "victim-blaming," i.e. a tendency to blame the victim for their condition, and then "secondary victimization," i.e. persecuting them even more. Essentially we live in a society that carries the values of Social Darwinism, i.e. "survival of the fittest," and so those who have unrecognized conditions are held to be "faking it." This becomes a vicious cycle, since PTSD is increased by helplessness and persecution, and the victim is basically left powerless and without any hope.

=================
Remember the initial cause of the problem was NOT in you and even if it was NO ONE has the right to abuse you, control you, victimize you. You do not have to be anyone's scapegoat. Let them face their own shadows and be responsible for their own actions.

North Face Search: Who’s YOUR Daddy? Huh?

North Face Search: Who’s YOUR Daddy? Huh?

And We Wonder Why....

Amazon UK

Retail giant Amazon was asked to make a "substantial donation" to a woman's refuge on Saturday night after its UK website offered T-shirts for sale promoting rape and violence against women. The T-shirts, which were also manufactured and sold in the U.S., included slogans were spun off the phrase, "Keep Calm and Carry On", a famous British propaganda slogan and included shirts that read: "Keep Calm and Hit Her", "Keep Calm and Rape a Lot" and "Keep Calm and Rape Them" for $23–$26.
=========
And if anyone actually did wonder why there is so much violence, mental illness, family dysfunction...
Just follow the bouncing red balls...

Anecdotal Evidence: `Drawn to What She Recognizes'

Anecdotal Evidence: `Drawn to What She Recognizes'
Excerpt:
"When she looks about her, it is not the strange or exotic ways of people that interest her, but the ordinary ways, when something that is familiar to her shows. She is drawn to what she recognizes, or half-recognizes..."

Change the World with Love One Heart at a Time | In a Dark Time ... The Eye Begins to See

Change the World with Love One Heart at a Time | In a Dark Time ... The Eye Begins to See
Excerpt:
“...With Love...” suggests the many forms of love that are required if we are ever to change our world. Not surprisingly it is not the kind of love our media is obsessed with, not romantic love; Vanier emphasizes the kind of Christian love that Jesus professes in The Beatitudes. It’s the kind of love that, according to Vanier, resides within all of us. We discover happiness when we cultivate this love. 

First Known When Lost: "The Living Branches Won't Let It Fall": Norman MacCaig And Patrick MacDonogh

First Known When Lost: "The Living Branches Won't Let It Fall": Norman MacCaig And Patrick MacDonogh
Excerpt:
In Memoriam

On that stormy night
a top branch broke off
on the biggest tree in my garden.

It's still up there.  Though its leaves
are withered black among the green
the living branches
won't let it fall.

Anecdotal Evidence: `I Who Am Limited'

Anecdotal Evidence: `I Who Am Limited'
Excerpt:
Our abiding crime, I suppose, is presumption. We presume to know so much. The speaker, a smart fellow, spoke of “Big Data,” intoning “from yesterday’s Gigabytes to today’s Terabytes and tomorrow’s Petabytes,”...