these are really good stories about cultural change. A paper in and of itself if either of you guys wanted to pursue it.
Lewis On Jul 29, 10:26 am, Diane Perrin <mdlorra...@comcast.net> wrote: > 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
