Dulling the Point By Dr. Juan Harrison
Dulling the Point
Inside our old bodies we still imagine we are young. We can instantly transport our mind to the times of our youth. Some memories are good, some not so much. Along the way many of us have suffered some mental or physical trauma that even our closest friends don’t know about. Unfortunately, the events or event is regularly jabbing our memories, pricking our happiness balloon, never quite leaving our thoughts or feelings. Sometimes it’s gritting our teeth or clenching our fists as the subconscious anger tends to bubble up and over into our daily life.
I’ve reminded us over the years that we have a lot to say about what thoughts occupy our minds. Unfortunately, a lot of us have ceded the control button over to the perpetrator of our physical or emotional injuries. As I’ve listened to the litany of hurts that grown people have picked up along the way, I’ve tried to find a way for us human types to win the struggle for control of our mind and emotions. It finally dawned on me that we have a lot to say about our peace of mind.
To break the cycle of the constant hurt making the loop through our mind, heart, and soul, we must do something to break the cycle. Be we a princess or a pauper, the pain is real to all of us. While it occupies much of our mental and emotional space, it’s probably not even on the radar of the person or persons who caused the hurt. I thought about all the anger and frustration that victims feel while the offender may or may not even have a clue how they’ve affected our lives. That makes things a bit lopsided. How could we begin to ease some of the pressure and pain that might have built up from the divorce, death, physical or mental abuse, abandonment, or mistreatment by others.
What I found in the Bible was some tough advice and a great example to go by. I remembered that we are to forgive our enemies. It tells us to do good to them and pray for them as if we are pouring coals on their heads in Proverbs. That goes against everything in our human nature and psyche. It almost seems cruel to us, but believers have come to learn that God’s ways are not man’s. Sometimes He does things that seem backwards to us.
When we summon up the fortitude to stare back at that painful, sometimes faceless source of our hurt, be it a former employer or just a malevolent human, we dull the point of the prick jabbing us. We take the power away from a noncaring being or love. We’re told to pray for our enemies. That’s hard, but Jesus showed us how from the cross. By blunting the pain that has nagged us for years, we make room for more sunshine and light in a formerly dark place.
By Dr. Juan Harrison
