I am happy to report that Friend X has gotten some sleep and that the worst of the crippling insomnia seems to have abated. Was it the acupuncture treatment, the release of anger, the prayers, or all of these? Only G*d knows, but X is sleeping at night again.
He is also going through some inner transition that has some consequences for his work life.
He is still bearing many burdens both external and internal. Thank you for your prayers, and of your charity, please continue to pray.
Last week I found myself praying that the mothering Jesus about whom Julian of Norwich writes would reveal h-self to my friend: at the same time I prayed for a softening of the heart.
Anger can be an engine for justice. It can be a holy and righteous fire. It can also age, acquire knotted layers, fester into resentment and gall. In those circumstances it is hard, hard, hard to carry inside. Sometimes it is so intractable that it takes more than a good shrink to help get to its core and to help it melt; it can be one of those realities of which Jesus spoke when he said "it can only be driven out by prayer."
(Mind, I'm not judging the reasons for this kind of anger. They are legitimate and understandable. I'm more concerned with the long-term effects on a person.)
If you are not someone who prays, please send solidarity.
If you are someone who prays, send solidarity too!
Thank you.
P.S. This person really loves animals.
See here for another species.
Glad for the update and prayers continue!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely doggie!!
It's a pit bull puppy.
ReplyDeletePrayers AND solidarity for X.
ReplyDeleteMa certo!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know about this either, and blessings on all of you.
ReplyDeleteIt is late (or early) and I'm sort of at it again, though not as grievously as before.
Yes, there were changes about which I wrote very bravely in the persona of a prostitute giving renouncing a business that demands whoredom. Of course it is not that simple--not after a week of slicing chazerei bologna, repetitive motion work, and slopping around in cleaning solutions and water. What did I say--I deserve better than that? So unfortunately I have opted to reclaim my "f--- me pumps" and red handbag. I am surrendering to the fact you cannot make a living in New Jersey (or anywhere) on $8 an hour, and you cannot reenter the world you left without giving 'em what they want, i.e., by lying. You know what "Ph.D" means--it's the oldest joke on earth. I have lived as a Barbara Ehrenreich character twice before. "I will, with God's help" not do so again.
Oh, I must say--it bothers me that Episcopal Relief and Development--to which I would offer myself for not no but low, low pay--doesn't appear to want anyone's employment, only their money. I don't have any money, just a will to work. Something strikes me as incongruous here.
And it disturbs me that this frippery gets to me at all when a woman faces rape and and worse when she returns to Nigeria from Lambeth. Her crime?--telling the truth to power in the theocracy her country has become.
Oh yes--that's a pit bull puppy, part of a breed much maligned, much mishandled by the "humans" who adopt them for detestable purposes, and more often than not answerable for the sins of their "humans."
Sadly, the mask of anonymity must continue....