Are you hungry for more in life?
This column was created as a reaction to domestic violence that was rampant throughout the island. That was twenty-two years ago. Domestic violence is still rampant. Are we being self destructive by trying to be nice to everyone?
I know a wife who died of cancer a couple of years ago. Her husband was emotionally and mentally abusive. Every morning from 6 a.m to 7:00 a.m. it sounded like as warzone. Chaotic noise polluting the morning air with explicits to his wife was cruel and horrific. My brain heard all that. When she passed away I could hear the roosters crow in the morning.
Finally she was resting from
dodging bullets every morning.
I think she survived because it seemed normal, but it never was. Her body developed cancer that eventually killed her.
A British researcher said that to study individual cell (cancer) is like trying to understand a traffic by studying a car’s internal combustion.
The morning trauma from my neighbor affected my brain. I chose to wash my mind with the Truth (Gods Word). Children who witness violence are traumatized too. The problem with trauma is it continues as if you are in danger days and years later (PTSD). I had to express my feelings in my journals to find healing for my brain. Otherwise I’d be on survival mode which is stressful. Stress can cause many changes in the body. It can cause a quick rise in cortisol, that can help a person react to immediate danger. However, if cortisol levels remain high for prolonged periods, it can cause weight gain, hypertension, and diabetes. I suspect cancer too
Dr. Bessell van der Kolk, M.D. wrote a book, “The Body Keeps the Score”. A book that so eloquently articulates how overwhelming experiences affect the development of brain, mind, and body awareness, all of which are closely intertwined. The resulting derailments have a profound impact on the capacity for love and work.
Trauma changes the brain.
Childhood physical abuse is associated with 49 per cent higher odds of cancer in adulthood, says Esme Fuller-Thomson of U of T’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work and Department of Family and Community Medicine.
We are so complex – fearfully and wonderfully made- it makes me see why Jesus commanded us to love one another.
LORD teach us to love the unlovely.