For many of us, the holidays are hard. Does the Christmas season have any meaning for trauma survivors?
Lately, when I ponder what this season can say to me as a trauma survivor, the words of a Christmas carol echo in my mind: “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; hail the incarnate Deity, pleased with us in flesh to dwell, Jesus, our Immanuel.” What the heck does all of that mean? Those are not easy lyrics to decipher. Incarnate stands out to me. Incarnation means, “the union of divinity with humanity in Jesus Christ; the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form.”
That lyric says that God came down as a human named Jesus and lived as we live. A verse in the book of John in the New Testament says that the “Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) The Greek word translated as the Word is logos and the author applied it to Jesus.
“When the gospel of John proclaims, “The word became flesh,” the author is indicating that God took upon Himself not human nature in its ideal state before the fall, but human nature in its actual condition of privation, sin, and death.” Thomas Keating
We can overcome by turning to God
A story in the New Testament book of John illustrates God’s intervention. Jesus’ disciples started traveling without Him to a town called Capernaum. They grew afraid as the wind kicked up and the water became choppy. Here is the story:
“When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.” John 6:16-21
Jesus came to them during rough and scary conditions. He said to them the words that characterize an incarnational life: Do not be afraid. The story tells us that when Jesus came into the boat, it came to Capernaum immediately. We can apply this story to our lives as trauma survivors. Recovery is like a sea, and often the waters are rough. We become scared and doubt we will ever truly recover. If we start practicing the first three steps of the 12 Steps Tradition, we will recover. (Note that I adapted the first step from Survivors of Incest Anonymous.)
We admitted we were powerless over the trauma, and the effects of the trauma, and that our lives had become unmanageable.
Came to believe that a loving Higher Power greater than ourselves could restore hope, healing, and sanity.
Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of a loving Higher Power as we understood Higher Power.
We can practice these steps knowing that because of the incarnation, God understands what it is like to be human. We can turn to God and find empathy. And we can in turn, give love, kindness, and empathy to others.
Resources
Invitation to Love by Thomas Keating
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Only reason I’ve been able to overcome trauma is Christ, no doubt.
Christmas and this season in general is a minefield for trauma survivors. I found this comforting.