Cultural Encounters: A Journal For The Theology Of Culture Volume 13 Number 2 | Page 7

Volume 13, Number 2 A JOURNAL FOR THE THEOLOGY OF CULTURE The Power of Trauma Trauma resulting from abuse of a sexual nature involves irrevocable psycho- spiritual damage that reshapes a person’s story and may well become the domi- nant controlling force for the duration of her life. The severity of the trauma and the criminal nature of the abuse demands involvement of professional counse- lors and law enforcement. Allegations that implicate someone within a church or ministry organization make it “essential to have sexual abuse allegations inves- tigated by an independent party that does not have a vested interest in the church.” 3 The scars are deep and lasting. Recurring nightmares and unexpected triggers keep traumatic memories ever capable of reawakening. The legal notion of a statute of limitations on sexual abuse and violence may give perpetrators a pass on vicious crimes. It is a total fiction for survivors and an outright denial of real- ity. In some cases, trauma can establish such a debilitating hold on a person that their lives are shattered, driving some to the point of suicide. Trauma’s wounds may be invisible to the naked eye, but the scars are deep and lasting. There is no silver lining to this hideous cloud. But survivors have demonstrated again and again that trauma can have unexpected outcomes. Today, we have vivid memories of the remarkable moral strength and courage survivors heroi- cally display by standing up, telling their stories, and fighting for justice. That feat is all the more remarkable because they’ve had to fight against overwhelm- ing odds and overcome the trauma of reliving their ordeal in public. Can anyone truly fathom how hard that must have been or what powerful emotions those former gymnasts suppressed to voice their suffering before a battery of media cameras all while facing their abuser? Some of the most intensely traumatized women display unearthly levels of compassion and tenderness for others. Their antennae—sensitized by their own suffering—are always on red alert. They are quick to spot someone else who is hurting and possess an exquisite ability to come alongside. As Henry Nouwen astutely observed, “The great illusion of leadership is to think that [a person] can be led out of the desert by someone who has never been there.” 4 The byline on the jacket of Nouwen’s book refutes the notion that wounded people in the church are liabilities and speaks instead to the rich potential of survivors. “In our own woundedness, we can become a source of life for others.” It is also true—and we have biblical support for this—that survivors of trauma of every kind have given us some of the deepest theology we possess. Job’s sto- ries are borne of trauma. Hagar, Naomi, Hannah, and Esther are a few examples. These sufferers give us permission to wrestle with the deepest questions human beings ever ask. They take us to the edge of human existence, to the perilous Jen Zamzow, “Should Churches Handle Sexual Abuse Allegations Internally?” in Christianity To- day, February 2, 2018, http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2018/february-web-only/should- churches-handle-sexual-abuse-investigations-internal.html. 3 4 Henry Nouwen, The Wounded Healer (New York: Doubleday, 1972), 72. 4