I often think of the rules imposed on people. Be a virgin, don’t get divorced, be silent, don’t be masculine or feminine, have your own, tolerate abusers. The endless conformity, pressure, and subjection of people to be enduringly perfect. All these impossible rules… I mean if a person was abused or trafficked, how can they be a virgin when they get married. Or if they are filled with painful trauma, how can they be silent when their mind is raging inside of them? What if they marry or move in with a narcissist or liar that only showed their true colours after they lived with them, are they still supposed to stay?
I hear people blame Eve for the fall of humankind, but maybe Adam’s lack of protection and not taking responsibility for his actions could have also been the reason God kicked them out of the garden. “The woman made me do it?!!!!” Like what does that even mean? She didn’t shove the apple down his throat. That form of not taking responsibility is still rampant in our society on each side of the gender coin. Or let’s talk about how Abraham and Sarah sent Hagar and Ishmael away with close to nothing to survive on because THEY screwed up by taking things into their own hands and did not wait on the promise of God to be fulfilled in their own lives. They moved on in abundance, where God had to rescue Hagar and Ishmael when they almost died. It’s sadistic how we expect people to suffer and expect them to do it smiling even though they are emotionally dying in silence. How people project their own pain on others and treat them badly when they don’t do anything wrong. We expect them not to make a mistake when everyone does. Or how some people will only have use for you if you agree with their limited point of view.
What’s interesting is that in our shortcomings God sent His Son to die for us so that we could live, but people play god in wanting to control other people. If you can understand the simple facts that God is the only one that can judge and He holds nothing against you and people will try to make you feel as bad or as good as they do. Accept the cards that you have been dealt with, yes some people hurt you and tried to control you, but your story doesn’t end there and I don’t care what mistakes you have made, or what you have done, people don’t have a right to make you feel bad about them. Your fine has been paid, you’re free to leave the jail and you no longer have to feel bad about the past and the things that have happened to you. This world can be ungraceful but that doesn’t mean that you have to become the people that hurt you. It’s just the opposite, everything that was lost can be gained, and you being the bigger person will cause you to grow past your abusers.
Love you guys xoxo
Michell
Instagram: michell.barker
michell@michellbarker.com
