Andy, Again - very similar background stories. Only I would be the mother who went to Catholic Schools. The threat I got from my Dad was that if I didn't behave he would send me to public school! (I believed him.)
It is interesting to note the differences and growth that occur with the generations. I'm sure it was very difficult for your mother to relinquish her beliefs to the point where you children were able to chose your own avenues; while she was probably concerned about your well-being, it might have been a relief in some respects, and, like you say, healing for you all. Diane On Jul 29, 3:58 pm, Andy <andrew.mitch...@jsc.edu> wrote: > The stories of healing that are remembered from “childhood” are not so > many. My parents were raising children for the entirety of my youth > so they did not have ample time to tell stories about what healing > meant. > there is one exception to this rule. My mom, who was brought up in > an orthodox Catholic household where the word of “God” was used to > explain the reason why mishaps occurred and to validate the need for > faith during the times of trial during life. As a child “Mom” would > talk about her inherent responsibilty to stay true to her faith to > make sure she did not go to hell. She would tell stories about > attending catholic grammer and middle school where she nuns “teachers” > would use threats of heaven and hell to make sure the children > “students” did not misbehave. From what she said, corporal punishment > was not unheard of. > As a son of the is woman for a time in my life I took these stories > (meaning) literally and consequently responded with fear because of > innocence or ignorance that was inherent in my age. With the passing > of “time” coupled with the growth of my own personal experience of > life I began to challenge the presumption that evil and good were > clear cut and “easily” defined. Initially this lead me into direct > verbal conflict with my mother and her inherited perspectives. As a > youth growing up in these conditions, the stress was palatable. When > I took the time to look around at the relationships between my mother > and the rest of the siblings it was easy to see that the others were > suffering as well. > During the time of middle school and high school there was a great > deal of conflict between my parents and their children. This was due > in part to a stark difference in approach to living between the > household I grew up and the environment that I understood to be > society (home town). > The situation came to a head during the time of the sacrament of > confirmation. I choose not to be confirmed. There were many battles > fought over this issue but ultimately I was not forced to get > confirmed: I was given the choice. > In the time that followed the confrontations, changes began to occur > in the dynamics of the relationships between the people in my family > but also the relationships the individuals had with the > concept’s of right and wrong. This breaking of the totalitarian > strangle hold shock the family to it’s roots in a positive manner. > All the people were set free in a manner of speaking, Like the dam > that has broken to release the water (energy) to bring life to those > parts of us that had been given no attention. See this is only part of > the scenario, the other half of it is that the development of means to > express the pent up energy was what needed to be established because > the “frustration” needed a mean to be transformed into joy. > By Mom releasing her will so that her children could leave the > congregation on their own accord, all of us were given the opportunity > to find our own ways in the world to realize for our selves what a > good citizen was and is, and to be an asset to what ever community we > wound find ourselves being a part of. The healing that came out of > the whole situation was that my mother had chose to let go of the > views that were inhibiting her growth so that she could live in manner > that was and is closer to who she was and is. Her children by these > sequence of events were given permission and the responsibility to > explore life to constantly emerge from moment to moment into a fuller > expression of who they were and are. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CulturalandTraditionalHealthandHealing" group. To post to this group, send email to culturalandtraditionalhealthandhealing@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to culturalandtraditionalhealthandhealing+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.ca/group/culturalandtraditionalhealthandhealing?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
