Last night, before bed, I was scrolling through the news feed on my iphone.
Disparate Images began to fill my mind: of children separated from their parents at a US border crossing, of women marching in response to the less than satisfactory response of the US Southern Baptists to one of its recently removed leaders, and a Canadian post on FB on Father’s Day where a man wondered whether his deceased father in heaven would read what he wrote.
These images began to fill me with sadness, as to me, they all spoke of unfulfilled dreams, or wishes, or regret. Then I picked up the book I have been reading the book by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Lessons in Leadership: A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible (Jerusalem: Maggid Books, 2015). In speaking of the building of the temple by the Jewish people, Rabbi Sacks claims: “It is not what God does for us that transforms us. It is what we do for God (p.94).”
Then my mind was flooded by the myriad of images of how women in congregations help one another when abuse strikes a religious home. In our research, now spanning almost 25 years, we have demonstrated the tremendous support that women of faith receive from other women when their physical and mental health is compromised by an abusive relationship.
We invite you to visit our website at www.theraveproject.org to see our resources, understand more about the problem of abuse, and learn that every voice matters when it comes to ending abuse and encouraging peace and safety in the Christian home!