Jason Witten Helps the Fight Against Domestic Violence

Childhood experience moves Cowboys' Witten to help domestic abuse victims Writes BP Sports

He remembers the screaming. He remembers the confusion, the doubt and all the other terrible consequences of domestic violence. He doesn’t want others to experience what he did growing up. So he’s doing something about it.

While many NFL players occasionally throw a requisite bone to charities to satisfy their team’s public relations staff, Witten is the rare breed who cherishes self-sacrifice. He devotes untold hours to a myriad of different organizations, mostly involving children, the underprivileged and survivors of shattered homes. He also recently started his own foundation, S.C.O.R.E., which supports families in crisis.

“I’m trying to break the cycle of family violence,” he said.

You can find videos on youtube about this foundation that Witten started to combat domestic violence. This is the type of thing we need! Its not the fact he is a football star, but the fact he is man that is willing to step up to stop family violence!

Witten, 26, the Dallas Cowboys’ six-year veteran and one of the best tight ends in the NFL, grew up with an abusive father in the greater Washington, D.C. area. When Jason was 11, his mother, Kim, relocated her three sons to Elizabethton, Tenn., to live with her father, Dave Rider. There, Jason experienced true a model of true biblical manhood from his grandfather, who was also his football coach at Elizabethton High School. Eventually, Kim became a Christian, as well.

“It’s amazing how God works in our lives,” said Jason, whose Cowboys finished 9-7 and missed the playoffs this season.

It shows me how God made wonderful things happen in his life AFTER domestic violence! It shows me that YES a family can make it once they leave!

Even though his NFL career consumes a large portion of his life, Witten’s spiritual calling is never far from his mind. He launched S.C.O.R.E. (which stands for “Support, Community, Overcome, Rebuild, Educate”) in December 2007 to assist several non-profit organizations in Texas and Tennessee in preventing domestic abuse and helping victims recover.

The foundation’s first event, a Christmas party at a family entertainment park, raised support for 30 clients of The Family Place, a large domestic violence shelter in the Dallas area. In September, thanks to a $100,000 donation from the Allstate Foundation, Witten teamed with the Texas Council on Family Violence to make a public service announcement on TV.

He has been chugging full steam in charitable work ever since his first NFL season. As a member of the 2003 Cowboys Rookie Club, he made visits to Dallas-area charities like the ChildCareGroup and Voice of Hope Ministries. He also is involved with the Salvation Army, the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the United Way, and each summer he runs a large youth football camp in Elizabethton. In 2007, he was one of four finalists for the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.

Witten placed his faith in Christ in 10th grade during a Fellowship of Christian Athletes church retreat in Nashville. He and his wife, Michelle, have been married five years and attend Pastor Ed Young’s large Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas. Jason admits he has learned much from Michelle and the godly family she was raised in – a luxury he didn’t have as a child.

“My wife is so strong in her faith and is such a follower of Christ,” he said. “Having her beside me encourages me. It’s neat to experience the [Christian] walk with her.”

The Wittens have two young boys, C.J. and Cooper, who consistently inspire Jason to be the kind of father figure he lacked early on. They also provide living proof of the benefits of a loving family structure, which he is trying to support through his foundation.

“It’s about being a man and a role model,” said Witten, who claims he holds no grudge against his father. “We take in not just the mothers involved [in domestic abuse] but the children affected by it. That’s something we’re really active in, and also underprivileged children as a whole. God has blessed me enough to do it because of the game I play.”

It’s a game he plays remarkably well. A can’t-miss prospect since high school, the 6-foot-5, 266-pound bulldozer played linebacker and defensive end before finding his true calling at tight end at the University of Tennessee. There, he earned All-Southeastern Conference honors as a junior after setting single-season school records at the position in catches (39) and receiving yards (493).

The Cowboys drafted him in the third round (69th overall) after his junior year, and since then, his career has been on a Hall of Fame trajectory. He has averaged 918 yards and nearly five touchdowns a season since 2004. In 2007, he enjoyed a career year with first-team All-Pro numbers. His 96 catches and 1,145 receiving yards established Cowboys records, and his seven touchdowns marked a career high.

“I was very humbled by it because there are so many great tight ends,” he said. “It was obviously a great experience. It was rewarding because you put so much effort in it and to see it pay off … I have a lot of great players around me.”

Witten enjoyed another sterling year this year. He finished the season with 79 catches for 952 yards and four touchdowns and made his fifth straight Pro Bowl appearance. All this comes despite a broken rib he suffered in Week 8, an ankle sprain in Week 16, and the media circus surrounding teammate Terrell Owens’ alleged complaint in mid-December that Witten and quarterback Tony Romo were scheming plays to deny Owens the ball.

As he prepares for a long offseason, Witten will have time to reflect on all he has accomplished so far. But he knows that introspection as a football player isn’t what he needs most; it’s introspection as a follower of Christ.

“That’s what it’s all about,” he said. “I’m nowhere near where I want to be at. I fall every day. It’s the challenge of being closer to God. I need to grow every day, and I believe I am.”

What an awesome story! Thank Jason Witten for fighting against Domestic Violence!

Another Woman Shot and Killed in the Church Parking Lot

The Washington Post reports today that a 52-year-old Montgomery County woman was shot to death outside her church. It seems they had police there directly traffic at the church when they heard gunshots. The Police arrested the husband, and he is being held with no bond.

People's Community Baptist Church in Silver Spring I'm sure is reeling after this murder within their walls. If you look at the comments (from the newspaper links) you do get some crazy ones as you would expect, but one was from a person that knew the victim.

This poster knew Patricia Ann Simmons Kelly of Rockville, and I think she said it well!

I knew Pat. She was a lovely woman and a beautiful spirit. What happened to Pat had nothing to do with church, but rather a personal, marital situation that had apparently gone very wrong. Please keep Pat and her family in your prayers, and in particular, her daughter -- a young girl who has lost her mother far too soon.

Police said the husband had recently been asked to leave the family home and went to the church to meet with her. They said the shooting occurred in the lot near the front entrance. Church officials could not be reached immediately to comment.

The friend is correct when saying this has nothing to do with the church, but it should show people about the irrational mindset people deal with when they 'just leave' as they are told to. It doesn't end there, and it isn't that simple. It wouldn't surprise me if we learn later that they had no idea he was capable of this.

We now have another case of uxoricide that tends to not be dealt with very well either. Uxorcide is when one parent kills the other, and you deal with what happens to the children afterwards. I think this is another issue that the church tends NOT to think about when they decide they aren't going to deal with domestic violence!

Emotionally Destructive Relationships

Leslie Vernick talks about her book the Emotionally Destructive Relationship.









Check out the Emotionally Destructive Relationship! Also check out Leslie Vernick's Website!

Men's Group Raises $36,000 for Domestic Violence Shelter

Early I had write about a Men's Group from Church Raises Funds for Domestic Violence, and it was reported today on The Evangelical Covenant Church website that raised $36,000 to help the local Shelter for domestic violence!

NORTH EASTON, MA (February 16, 2009) – Despite a difficult economy, the men’s group of Congregational Covenant Church recently raised $36,000 for two agencies assisting battered women.

The men raised the funds through their “Flavors of the World” dinner that included wine tasting, a dance, an auction, as well as coporate donations.

The community also has been eager to support the dinner. “We have made this into a very visible cause,” says Kevin Symmons, one of the co-chairs.

This was the fourth annual dinner to benefit Womansplace Crisis Center, an emergency shelter, and HUGS II (Help Us Get Safe), a nonprofit organization that offers various services to combat domestic violence.

In the past four years the men have raised more than $130,000. They held the first event after taking an oath as part of the White Ribbon Campaign to do whatever they could to stop domestic violence.

Symmons says he is grateful for the active support the men in the church have shown. They had so many who wanted to help with the dinner that “we had to turn away volunteers and tell the guys to enjoy the dinner with their wives,” he says.

More information on how churches can combat domestic violence is available on the Evangelical Covenant Church website area devoted to the Advocacy for Victims of Abuse (AVA) program.

All I can say is WOW! Three cheers for this awesome group of men, and their families! Thank you Lord for their efforts, and your guidance to help the local domestic violence receive $36,000!

Domestic Violence Self Defense Lashing Back - do people grasp the difference?

Do people not grasp the difference between self-defense and lashing back in anger?

I'm sure most of you have heard about the situation with Rihanna and Brown in the news. Beyond the glitz and the glamour that engulfed the lives of Rihanna and Brown, who until now had an image of a wholesome lovey-dovey couple, there is the central question of domestic violence. There are all kinds of questions as to what really happened. What seems to sicken me is this continuing attitude of, "What did she do to provoke this?"

Notes of This Native Son was writing about a debate he was having regarding when it is okay to hit a women? Let me be clear about something! When we are talking self-defense when being attacked - you pull out all the stops! No man, woman or child should NOT feel they couldn’t defend themselves when in danger! I don't care who it is that is attacking you!

The problem comes with some of these parties that try to give examples to show when its okay to beat the daylights out of someone! These examples are NOT self-defense!

Here is what the author stated in part of his article:

Largely I was in the minority, both my male and female said there are instances when a man has the right to beat the crap out of a woman. I found the women to be more aggressive in their stance and quite frankly state that “if a woman wants to act like a man she can get hit like a man.”

One scenario described a man sleeping and his significant other boils a pot of hot water, or grits whatever your preference may be and throws the contents of the scalding hot pot on the man. Does he have the right to lay his hands on her?

Another scenario described was in the context of a monogamous relationship and your lover infects you with herpes. Does a man have the right to cause physical harm to the woman after she has infected him with a life long disease?

In my opinion this is a simple answer, no matter how convoluted the hypothetical becomes. No! No a man does not have the right nor should he be justified in laying his hands on a woman no matter what the circumstance.

The author is correct when he says he is surprised at especially women's opinions on this.

The example of the boiling water, getting thrown on someone, I have to say I think it is just ridiculous to insinuate that a woman has the right to hurt, maim, and injure a man, but he cannot defend himself. If I walk up to my husband and punch him in the face, is it really fair to say that because I am a woman I should be able to get away with it. No, not at all. I think we have a horrible double standard where that is concened. If you put your hands on me, then I am going to put my hands on you right back. Now there are very clear instances where it is abuse, and we all know the difference, but if you hit someone and get hit back, that’s self defense, better yet, that’s a fight. I see movies all the time of women slapping the crap out of their husband and boyfriends because they cheat.

You notice the diversion tactics in this statement? It is VERY common! The author didn't say a WORD about its okay to hurt, maim and punch someone in the face with no repercussion! NOT A WORD! This is a very common tactic that is used to show the 'double standard' that clearly wasn't presented in what he said. Punching the woman out isn’t self-defense it’s lashing back!

Personally, I would be more concerned over the man's injuries and health after being a victim of hot water burns. You can't compare the woman that slaps her partner due to him cheating, and having boiling water thrown on you. She shouldn't be slapping either for cheating, but there is a HUGE difference here! He is going to have serious damage from the hot water, and in most cases the man slapped over cheating ISN'T! I don't think either case would be a good one to turn around and punch her lights out in return. Just because you can't doesn't justify her actions! Don’t people grasp the connection there?

I remember a time in high school in which the population of our town surged to quick for the school district to keep up. I remember the first year this happened the children in some ways were in control at school. Our Cafe for lunch was a huge room, and if a food fight broke out you had to take cover. The staff would lock us in, and the food line doors would close. You had to sit and wait for it to calm down before the staff would come in. The problem with being on the inside is some people took that as a green light to become aggressive. It was kind of like how they say people change during riots.


My friends and I from my social groups quickly learned to get UNDER the lunch table for cover! There were about 20 of us - both girls and boys - and the first time it happened someone approached me in an aggressive manner. I was pulling my chair out to jump under the table when someone ran into me, and I think they felt I the pulled my chair out on purpose. I didn't even know they were there! They pushed me, and I felt I had no choice but to PUSH back! I remember after they left and I flew under the table my friends giggling at me, "WOAH Hannah! I have NEVER seen that side of you before! You scared ME!" Yes, they were teasing me but knew at the same time.

I remember warning my mother about the atmosphere at school in case she got a call from the principal’s office about me fighting! It was so outside my personality type, but I wasn't going to take it lying down. I felt the right to defend myself! My mother's response was naïve as well! Shall we look at the other side of this?

Mom: Hannah! Seriously! All you have to do is walk away! There is no reason to feel you have to fight or defend yourself in that manner! JUST walk AWAY!

Hannah: Mom, did you hear me when I told you what happened? I didn't start this! If I turned and walked away from that kid they would have JUMPED ME!

Mom: Don't be silly. That would never happen! Just walk away!

Hannah: Mom! My high school is NOT the southern belle land you grew up in!

Mom: I hope I don't get a call from school Hannah.

YES I was a bit testy that day! It scared me to death! I was more frustrated due to the fact she wasn't hearing me! Mom at times liked to place blinders on when she didn't want to deal with things. She diverted as well just like the lady talking about WHEN it’s okay to punch back! Both of them are WRONG!

My point was I got aggressive with the other student, because I felt if I didn't I would be attacked. I felt I had no choice but to come OUT of my comfort zone, and try to push back a bit to get them to lay off. It was a risk I felt I had no choice but to make at that point. It was that or risk being well PUNCHED out for no reason. I didn’t punch them, but I did take an aggressive stand!

YES I lashed back in self-defense, but I didn’t lash back because someone ticked me off! I didn’t lash back because you hurt me so I am going to hurt YOU! I defended myself because I felt threatened. Chances are the guy that got slapped isn’t feeling threatened! He is MAD, but in MOST cases he isn’t threatened! The hot water example mentioned? I think medical attention is a smarter option to go for, unless she has a second hot pot waiting for you! If you feel she is a threat of further harm in that fashion? OH YES! Defend yourself! She has already acted like a NUT!

I will admit I have seen double standards. The examples they wrote about aren’t. They silly examples of how we can twist things to show one, and they failed miserably. My mother’s reaction is one that is similar to the church response. Walk away. The second is the secular response. Lash back!

To me it’s another hurtle to jump over if people can’t grasp the self-defense, and lash back factor. I think the secular is lash back, and the church response? Denial.

True Women Verus Feminists ... Here we go again!

I wanted to talk about some articles I have seen regarding the New Women’s Conference.

First off I don't consider myself to be a Feminist. Secondly, I have to giggle at the definitions of feminism I hear about in the churches today anyway. Did you ever notice they use the most extreme examples, and just assume that most of the world accepts these models? How they are man haters, thinking they are the superior beings, and how they hate children, etc. Why the extremes?

They seem to be using the same tactics as that Virginia Slim commercial example used at the True Women Conference. Virginia Slims wanting to break into the market so they used tactics that will make you remember them! True Women conference showed you how that brand of feminism goes to far, and has torn apart the families.

If you have to use extreme examples of feminism to me you don't have much of a point. Its like they use the extremes as a scare tactic, and to try to coerce you into their other 'extreme' model of womanhood. I guess I will never understand that. It doesn't make sense to me, and as the saying goes IT doesn't compute!

Kathryn Joyce wrote another article about, "Women’s Liberation Through Submission: An Evangelical Anti-Feminism Is Born". She spoke about the True Woman Conference ’08 in Chicago, where they promote what its proponents call “biblical womanhood"! It’s a good article, and worth the read. Check it OUT!

I have actually gone to the True Women’s site, and listened to the audios they provided from the conference. I don't have a problem if you have this idea in your head of how you feel scripture is calling you to live your life okay? I don't like it when people say their definition is the TRUE one, and then use their opinions to mention how if you don't agree you are in the camp with the Virginia Slims Advertisements. To me it’s too black and white!

Companies like Virginia Slims use all kinds of tactics to get their brand across. I realize at the time they were trying to get the message across that women were a bit more empowered than what they gave themselves credit for. Virginia Slims even crossed the line to dare to say MAYBE woman are the stronger gender. It was a tactic for their brand recognition, and I'm sure there are people that believe that as well. I don't believe MOST believe that.

I mean lets get real here men and women are different. No better no worse - different. It’s like comparing apples and oranges to me. To say we need to go back to the time pictured on the top of the Virginia Slims ad, and not be that arrogant liberated woman on the bottom to be 'true women' of Christ is hogwash! You aren't an extreme feminist just because you don't go along with their agenda. From what I heard a lot of what they are suggesting would take us backwards personally.

The message at the conference is that feminism went to far in the wrong direction, but if you look at history the place of 'true women' wasn't going the right direction in the past either. You may have had the 'Let it to Beaver' types of homes, but you also had ones that lived in the dark side like ones filled with domestic violence. It those days domestic violence was a family matter remember? Heck even child abuse and molestations were ignored, and swept under the carpet.

You didn't talk about it, but that doesn't mean it wasn't there. I hear so many talk about how things are worse now, and I have to disagree! I do remember those days myself, so NO I’m not some young whipper snapper talking trash here! Just because we ignored it doesn't mean it wasn't present. You didn't report it, you didn't act on it, and you didn't do much to stop it either. Can we say wrong direction? I’m not saying we do things CORRECTLY all the way today, but it is better in a lot of areas when it comes to the ‘social ills’ that we pretended wasn’t there at all in the past!

What has happened to men? is a video interview with Danny Silk. It seems he has a different view on this issue. After I got finished listening to this man speak to the younger man I thought HE is the FEMINIST (giggling to myself of course)! I'm sure others would take what he is trying to get across as wimping out, and letting the women run over all the men...because they NOW have to have power and control! I don't think that is what he was getting at all. I'm NOT saying he couldn't have said it better in certain portions of his message, but I think I get where he is going...


The video starts with the question,

"What has happened to men in modern times?"

Christian men? or all men? or what?

Well I guess especially Christian men, but generally all men. Wouldn't you say that something has happened to men in general in the last 50 or 100 years? There isn’t a big difference from the thousands of years before?

SURE! I think the big dynamic is changing and excelling is that men now have to deal with powerful women. Men have never had to deal with that before. They never even had to consider honoring and respecting a powerful woman. So when it’s a man's world...MEN make the rules! BUT soon as women and children become powerful men have to refine their role and their dynamic of interacting with someone who ... that has a new authority or a new respect.

Much like when minorities are empowered within a society. Just one generation ago we had a very different relationship with African Americans that our generation does now. So there were no tools that are sent to the next generation. This generation has to create their own tools on how to function in healthy relationships with now an EMPOWERED people group!

So men are going to ... we are going to have to grow in learning to cultivate connections and relationships without the threat of punishment. Without the dynamic of control and domination, and really that is Heaven come to earth is when you start introducing FREEDOM, LOVE, HONOR we change the dynamics of how people relate.

So generations past got away with a lot of disrespect, because small groups of people made all the rules. Now we now have a broader base of power. The Internet is empowering people like never before! An acceleration of people expecting to become freer and freer, and become more and more powerful. They have more options - More choices. The freedom of wealth that is accelerating the offer of wealth, and lots of choices!

Is like heaven training.... freedom training. So men had better learn how to train their children in FREEDOM and not in control and limitations. Men had better learn to love their wife’s, because like never before divorce is an option to women. It’s not a punishment. It’s not a social rejection. It’s not a financial punishment. So more than ever a woman can choose whom she will stay married to.

I don’t' care what your theology is! You can say, "We don't say the D word!' or "We don't have the option of divorce!" You need to shut up for a minute, because they do have the option to divorce and they are using it like crazy! Two thirds of all divorces are filed by women. Women in droves are trying to get away from men who don't know how to love. So if men don't learn how to love this trend will just corrode.

Wow that isn't the answer I was expecting....AT ALL!

(laughter)

Women do have more freedoms than they ever had before, and some men may have not learned to adapt to this change yet. I say some men because there are men out there that have! There are women in powerful positions, but I don't think he is talking about control freak type of power. Women didn't have the option of divorce, but men pretty much always did.

He is correct if you remember just a generation ago how the African Americans were viewed and treated compared to today. Perfect? NO! It would be unheard of back then to have an African American President! I have to say I doubt it would have happened to be perfectly honest with you. If it was attempted I can see certain areas of the country making sure those ‘blacks’ didn’t leave their homes come election day, and THEY would have got away with it also!

Women HAVE come a long way BABY! That doesn’t mean women are trying to take control, and make men more like women. YES it may mean you can’t rule with an iron fist like in days past, but if you truly think about it…that was a sinful way of ruling! Women were trapped in a lot of ways they aren’t trapped with now.

I was surprised to hear a man speak like he did as well. I think there is a huge difference between basic human freedoms that women should have had long ago, and what those women at the conference enjoy by way ... and the extreme feminist view of women that True Women conference is attempting to use. You can still live by biblical principals, and women can still enjoy basic human rights as well. You can still have the masculine man, and the feminine woman! It doesn’t stop that from happening! A man that learns to love as the example Mr. Silk gave doesn’t make a man LESS of a man! I think most men realize that as well. Our world isn’t perfect, but we don’t need to pigeonhole women so men can feel more MASCULINE! We would be less of a woman! God doesn’t intend either gender to be LESS than to make the other FEEL more gender specific!

Personally, I would side with the feminists if I had to choose between the options of their ‘true woman’. Woo HOO! We have come a long way BABY!

Elephants in the Room - Sermon on Domestic Abuse

I found a video tonight as I was browsing. I have to say I was very touched, and at the end tears were coming down my cheeks as I listened to this pastor preach to his church about the sin of domestic violence. He spoke of sexual abuse of children, and domestic violence within the church. He spoke of how scripture is used to keep people within homes where violence is taking place. He spoke of the damaging effects of emotional abuse, and he spoke of how the world (attitudes at times) pretty much sets up the abuse that happens. He spoke of how Jesus would not wish others to stay in danger. He mentioned stories of how the cycle continues. You could hear the spirit and attitude in his voice, and you could HEAR the urgency! He mentions how he feels its the most unreported crime, and the stats are awful as they are. Its about 20 minutes. In the 10 second mark you will notice the audio went out, and you see a lady RUN up and hand him a replacement mic! So its NOT your computer! Just wanted to warn you of their audio issue ahead of time.


I don't know how much longer google will host this video, so I also uploaded it to another location.
How people's lifes would change if they approach this issue like this pastor does!

His name is Rev. Charley Reeb: Pasadena Community Church is a United Methodist Congregation

I hope you enjoy his sermon about the Elephant in the Room - Sermon on abuse.

Sheriff's corporal offers domestic violence program to churches

The Murfeeesboro Post had an article about the police officer pictured, and son of a preacher that offered his services for education on domestic violence within the church.

By: Lisa Marchesoni

Posted: Friday, January 9, 2009 11:29 am

Cpl. Nathan Pagel


Helping pastors and church members deal with domestic violence issues more effectively is the goal of a sheriff’s corporal who developed a presentation about domestic violence dynamics based on Biblical terms.

Cpl. Nathan Pagel is the son of Church of Christ preacher Wayne Pagel, who retired after 40 years of service in Giles County. The corporal teaches classes about the dynamics of domestic violence at the sheriff’s office.

Pagel hopes his experiences will help pastors and church members better address domestic violence and help domestic violence victims who might be reached by the church.

“I felt like people (pastors and church members) needed more education” beyond recommendations of counseling, prayer and advice to stay together and work out problems, the corporal said.

“I developed a 30-minute presentation about laws and dynamics and what church members can do to help somebody,” Pagel said.

The Power Point presentation covers state law and explains the legal aspects, general dynamics and power and control used by abusers.

Abusers may sometimes justify their actions through religious terms such as women must be submissive to their husbands, he explained. Pagel counters the actions by responding through Biblical terms how husbands are supposed to honor their wives like Jesus Christ honored the church.

The presentation is geared to children ages 12 and above and adults.

Pagel gave the first presentation at his church, Rockvale Church of Christ whose members were receptive.

Ministers who are interested in having Pagel give the presentation at church may contact Pagel by voice mail at 904-3058, extension 4167, or through email at npagel@rutherfordcounty.org. He will conduct the class for free while off duty during Sunday or Wednesday night services.

What an awesome opportunity for churches to hear a presentation from a police officer that is very familiar with scripture! Our thanks to the The Murfeeesboro Post and Cpl. Nathan Pagel for this very important story!

Sermon on Domestic Abuse

iChalice: Unitarian Universalism meets Web 2.0 had a sermon listed, and I would encourage you to go and visit to view the entire thing.

It listed some very powerful quotes I felt.

Thisthewaith, a minister and President of a Chicago theological school, tells of a woman who had complained to her husband of his abuse and the scars she bore. He responded that her bones were his bones, as it said in the Bible – relating back to the story of Adam and Eve (“Every Two Minutes” 311). Other texts, such as 1 Peter 2:19-21 tell the faithful that they should suffer as Jesus suffered for them. As my colleague, Rev. Michael Tino writes, “If a woman is taught to believe that the pain inflicted by her abusive [partner] is a test of her faith and her willingness to keep her family together no matter what the personal cost, there is a problem with what she is being taught—not with her (Tino “Saving Paradise).”

Oh what a day that will be when the words are gentle and the homes are safe. It’s up to us, though. It’s up to us clergy to speak the truth in public at times like this. It’s up to us to teach our kids how to relate to one another and how to handle arguments. It’s up to us to reach out to one another in moments of grief and not to turn our heads when we see violence. Too often, way too often, I’ve heard the story of a woman who was abused in public, only to have people brush right by and go on with their day. “What business is it of mine,” they say and we should reply that truly Dr. King was right, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” We need not to take care of the woman with bruises; we need simply to be there with her. We need not to fix her problem, we need simply to let her know that she can survive and have a better life. We need not to make it all better for her; we need simply to end the cycle in our own lives.

Something that Rev. Rebecca Parker writes I know myself I have felt in the past, and I can't believe I'm the only one. Its sad when you think about it.

Rev. Rebecca Parker writes, “When I was in distress, I did not turn to my family or my church. In both places, I had learned that personal need had no place. The good person cares for others, but if she is hurt, frightened, confused or in need, these weaknesses are to be nursed in private, covered over or solved without bothering anyone else (Proverbs of Ashes 23).” From henceforth, know that this is a place where your hurt, fear, confusion and need are met with love and compassion. This place, this sacred space is for all of you, battered and broken, saddened and spiritless, happy and healthy. Our compassion for you will be carried in our hearts as we journey towards a world transformed by acts of love and justice.

Enjoy the sermon on domestic violence! I wanted to share today, and didn't want to hold on to it due to my cold. lol I'm a bit to foggy to write more! Blessings!