My father used to tell me that “all people who steal, think that all people are thieves.” The problem with being raised by thieves was my associated connection to their wrong doing.
They didn’t steal from the store or an organization. What they robbed was of far greater value. They ripped away my innocence and replaced it with fear and repulsive behavior. They took virtue from me and put trash in its place.
This unnatural bonding with them concocted a storyline that I followed for years. Their crimes went unchallenged. That is no longer true.
These weren’t my crimes, they were their crimes.
David cried out to God often in the Psalms. In one such verse he pleads with God, “Arise, O Lord, in your anger; rise up against the rage of my enemies, Awake, My God, and decree justice.” Psalms 7:6
Does that sound wrong to awaken God to move in an act of justice?
My family does rage against me. They want my silence but I’m all done being quiet. I am also done with the association to their guilt. It’s not my guilt and I’ve learned how to release it.
Deeper still what I want now for myself and all victims of these heinous crimes is justice! I want our voices restored to us so that we can shout with honor that our dignity has been restored.
Sometimes it seems that God is doing nothing about all the injustice that I see, that I’ve lived and that I fight to be righted.
What does justice look like? It’s not that difficult. A land restored where people can freely move about telling the world their story. Where abusers aren’t free to roam around devouring whoever they please because there are no consequences for their actions.
A world where victims find peace. That’s a justice worth fighting for.
