Reliving the past

I heard a testimony of a residential school survivor today. 

Residential schools were put in place by the Canadian government and administered by various agencies.  The scandals in these schools were, unfortunately, multitudinous.  Although some things that happened were probably unintentional or misguided, there is little doubt that deception, assault, greed, lust and other such non-virtues entered in.

Thus, the memories of survivors are often horrendous, or in some cases clouded for sake of sanity.

One survivor mentioned that for 28 years he survived by being a “born again Christian”.  Then, to receive his compensation as a victim of the residential school, he had to relive these memories.  And in so doing, he went to drink and despair.

I wonder how he had interpreted his version of God.  I wonder if His God was able to take him through despair as well as covering over the past sins.  Sometimes I wonder if suppressing an offense can be done.  When is real healing actually fully completed?   When the sin is confronted, can God take us through this?  What does it mean that God is there?  Can an offense from another person be truly forgiven?

These are precisely the thoughts that this series on the CBC radio will be heading into tomorrow.  I’ll  have to listen and see what comes next!