PASSWORD PROTECTION UNNECESSARY

Do not hide Your face from me when I am in distress. Turn Your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly. Psalm 102:2

 

Evan Osnos’ three-year-old son was just having fun with his dad’s IPad when he tried a number of times to enter the right password. Osnos, a staff writer at the The New Yorker, discovered that his device was locked, showing a message to “Try again in 25,536,442 minutes.” Do the math: that’s more than forty-eight years! The IPad lockout is a security feature that activates whenever the wrong password is repeatedly entered. The more times an incorrect login is used, the longer the lock-out time. Panicked, Osnos turned to Twitter, where helpful people offered suggestions like “put it in a bag of rice,” or “connect it to your computer and sync it.” My favorite responses were, “time travel seems to be your best bet,” and the questionable suggestion to “reboot the three-year-old.” Apple suggested a “restore” (whatever that means!) but added that all data would undoubtedly be lost. Bottom line: it seems Osnos’ IPad is toast.

 

I think God is a lot easier to work with than an electronic device. Access to Him is not “password protected.” We don’t need to enter any key words in the “search” bar, although there are some excellent online tools to “search” the Bible. Jeremiah 33:3 says, “Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know” (italics mine). Sometimes we may feel as if God isn’t listening (“Do not hide Your face from me when I am in distress.” Psalm 102).  But Jesus said, “Your father knows what you need before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:8). Prayer does not benefit from “autofill,” the dubiously helpful feature when we keyboard information into an electronic device. But the Holy Spirit will fill in the blanks for us when we don’t exactly know how to phrase our prayer. “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans” (Romans 8:26). As the saying goes, “If you are looking for God, you’ve found him.” The same cannot be said of a password protected electronic device!

 

Omnipresent Lord, we are grateful that access to You is quite simple and intensely personal. Amen

 

Meg Blaine Corrigan tells stories of wisdom, strength, fear, joy and risk-taking. Daughter of a raging alcoholic mother, and survivor of sexual assault at gunpoint, Corrigan has shaken a dismal past and flung herself into the arms of Christ, Who sustains her in her daily walk of grace. She shares with her listeners her incredible story of surviving and thriving through many trials during her seven decades walking this fragile earth. She has been described as a Renaissance Woman, integrating her formal training in psychology and counseling, an enlightening experience as a percussionist for a Polynesian show troupe, and most recently as an inspirational author and blogger. Her exposure to many life experiences has enriched her passion for spreading Christ’s word and helping other trauma survivors. She has a Master’s Degree in Guidance and Counseling and thirty-plus years of experience in the field of counseling and social work.  She lives in Lake Elmo, Minnesota, with the love of her life, Patrick, and their formerly disenfranchised rescue dog Ginger. www.MegCorrigan.com    MegCorrigan@comcast.net

EASTER PEOPLE

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. Luke 24:1-3

 

I attended a church for nearly twenty years where the pastor gave the same sermon every Easter Sunday. Every year, he asked the congregation whether we were “Good Friday People” or “Easter People.” I guess he must have thought it was a worthy enough question to ask us once a year, and, after that initial question, the sermon itself did vary somewhat each time. I’ve thought about his question every Easter since, and I actually think it is a good one. His point was whether or not we dwelt on Christ’s horrible death by execution and all the sadness and sin in the world, or whether we were willing to come out of that dark and damp tomb along with Christ and decide to live in the light and life of Christ’s resurrection. Obviously, Christ wants us to remember His death and the purpose of His going to the cross to conquer sin and death for our sake. God had tried many ways to change the hearts of His people, but they continued to turn away from their Heavenly Father. That’s why God sent His Son, born by the Holy Spirit of a woman, both man and God Himself. Jesus spent his short ministry on earth healing the sick, casting out demons, and preaching the “gospel” (truth) of God’s love for all mankind. As Jesus’ life ended on that cross, He cried, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). He had thus conquered all of the sins of mankind, and proved that death had no hold on Him. His work on earth was completed. But the story does not end there.

 

Christians believe it is a privilege to no longer live for ourselves, but to “give” our lives to God. Being Easter people means we are carrying Christ’s message of love and hope to all those we meet in this life. Our reward is a richer life here on earth, and a promise of eternal joy with God in heaven.

 

Lord, we thank You that we are Easter people through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ. Amen

 

Meg Blaine Corrigan tells stories of wisdom, strength, fear, joy and risk-taking. Daughter of a raging alcoholic mother, and survivor of sexual assault at gunpoint, Corrigan has shaken a dismal past and flung herself into the arms of Christ, Who sustains her in her daily walk of grace. She shares with her listeners her incredible story of surviving and thriving through many trials during her seven decades walking this fragile earth. She has been described as a Renaissance Woman, integrating her formal training in psychology and counseling, an enlightening experience as a percussionist for a Polynesian show troupe, and most recently as an inspirational author and blogger. Her exposure to many life experiences has enriched her passion for spreading Christ’s word and helping other trauma survivors. She has a Master’s Degree in Guidance and Counseling and thirty-plus years of experience in the field of counseling and social work.  She lives in Lake Elmo, Minnesota, with the love of her life, Patrick, and their formerly disenfranchised rescue dog Ginger. www.MegCorrigan.com    MegCorrigan@comcast.net

RADICAL FORGIVENESS

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” Matthew 18:21-22

 

Last Sunday, the guest at our very Lutheran church’s education hour was a Jewish Rabbi speaking about the Seder Meal during their Passover celebration. The Seder Meal is what Christians call “Last Supper” when Christ first introduced the bread as His body and the wine as His blood, to be given and shed for the redemption of our sins. The Rabbi said many Jews today read this modernized passage:

 

“On this night of the Seder we remember with reverence and love the six millions of our people of the European exile who perished at the hands of a tyrant more wicked than the Pharaoh who enslaved our fathers in Egypt. ‘Come,’ said he to his minions, ‘let us cut them off from being a people, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.’ And they slew the blameless and pure, men and women and little ones, with vapors of poison and burned them with fire. But we abstain from dwelling on the deeds of the evil ones lest we defame the image of God in which man was created.”

 

After this reading, the people sing Ani Maamin, or “I Believe” in Hebrew: “I believe with perfect faith the coming of the Messiah/And though he tarry, none the less do I believe!”

 

As Christians, we believe the Messiah is here. He came to live among us as Jesus the Christ, and he was persecuted, executed and buried. But our “good news” is that three days after his execution, Jesus walked away from the tomb. We strive to follow His loving ways, including the forgiving the sins of others as Christ forgave us our sins. I was moved by the reading this Rabbi gave, that the Jewish people purposefully remember not the horror that was inflicted on their people by a Pharaoh and a Nazi madman, but the forgiveness that God enables us to offer through His great and merciful grace.

 

“Oh, Lord…, do not only remember the suffering (others) have inflicted on us, remember the fruits we brought thanks to the suffering….” (written on a slip of paper left at Ravensbruck where 90,000 Jewish women and children perished)

 

Meg Blaine Corrigan tells stories of wisdom, strength, fear, joy and risk-taking. Daughter of a raging alcoholic mother, and survivor of sexual assault at gunpoint, Corrigan has shaken a dismal past and flung herself into the arms of Christ, Who sustains her in her daily walk of grace. She shares with her listeners her incredible story of surviving and thriving through many trials during her seven decades walking this fragile earth. She has been described as a Renaissance Woman, integrating her formal training in psychology and counseling, an enlightening experience as a percussionist for a Polynesian show troupe, and most recently as an inspirational author and blogger. Her exposure to many life experiences has enriched her passion for spreading Christ’s word and helping other trauma survivors. She has a Master’s Degree in Guidance and Counseling and thirty-plus years of experience in the field of counseling and social work.  She lives in Lake Elmo with the love of her life, Patrick, and their formerly disenfranchised rescue dog Ginger. www.MegCorrigan.com    MegCorrigan@comcast.net

SIX DOLLARS

By Elizabeth Sullivan,

Founder/CEO at EmpowerSurvivors-Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse-Nonprofit

 

April is Child Abuse Prevention and Sexual Assault Prevention Month. Thank you to my friend and fellow survivor, Elizabeth Sullivan for her guest entry this week.

 

And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. 2 Corinthians 1:7

 

This afternoon I stopped at the store on my way home and when I was coming out and got into my car, I noticed a man coming up to my window. I have to admit I was a tad nervous because he had a determined look on his face and I wasn’t sure what he was going to do. Being that I tend to go worse-case scenario I thought here goes, I’m going to get car jacked, mugged, raped or something else.

 

Needless to say it was none of those things. Instead it was a kind man that had seen the EmpowerSurvivors signs on my car, looked up our website, and said he was moved to give a donation.

In talking to him we both got teary eyed. Although he did not divulge any private information, I could feel that connection of a wounded warrior. Sometimes when you meet a fellow survivor of childhood sexual abuse you just know. You see it in their movements, the way the eyes sit in conversation and the way their heart shows in their words. I could see the tears being held back on his part and felt tears welling up in my own eyes as he spoke.

 

As he walked away, he gave me $6.00. On one of the bills he wrote to keep fighting for those who have no words, to be the truth no one else wants to see, and to keep the faith now and forever. I left our interaction feeling reflective and joyful. Reflective because I know where I’ve been and where so many have been and how now we are finally putting words to the unspeakable. Joyful because the tides are changing, and human connections are happening where they may have never happened before.

 

Funny how chance meetings can happen and how big of an impact they can make.  It was a nice moment. A moment that touched my heart and made me feel good for continuing the work I’ve been doing. Sometimes this work is painful, tiring to say the least. But so worth it.

 

Father of Peace and Power, strengthen us in the difficult task of comforting those who, like us, have been abused. Amen

For more information about EmpowerSurvivors, see the links below:

#EmpowerSurvivors
www.EmpowerSurvivors.net

THE QUIET SMALL THING IN SOCKS

1 Kings 19:11-13 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart.., but the Lord was not in the wind….(T)here was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake….(Then) came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire….(A)fter the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

 

In my thirty-plus years of counseling experience, I learned a few things about people’s behavior. I watched carefully when their expressions did not match the words coming out of their mouths. And often, I listened to what they were not saying. I observed frustration, anger, sadness and grief, joy and peace, guilt and shame.  My counselees were from all walks of life, and some marched to the beat of the drummer of unreality. But the single most thing I observed about the people I counseled was how they made a life-transforming decision. The certitude with which people changed wasn’t following some huge, dramatic event in their lives. True transformation seemed to come most often as what I call “the quiet, small thing in socks,” a soft whispering of an idea or thought which truly altered the person’s life from that point on.

 

Since not all my counselees have been Christians—or even believers in a Supreme Being at all, for that matter—I have wondered where God is in people’s choices. The answer may come from Scripture. The psalmist endorses the Lord’s way for us to listen to His counsel: “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). The writer of Proverbs suggests, “The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways” (Proverbs 14:8). And who but God could provide wisdom and prudence to mere humans of all persuasions? “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,” the Lord says to the prophet Isaiah, “neither are your ways My ways” (Isaiah 55:8). Elijah learned by being patient that God was indeed waiting for him in the silence.

 

Gentle Lord, hold me still in Your silence and help me discern Your divine guidance. Amen

 

Both candid and humorous, insightful and ponderous, Meg Blaine Corrigan’s memoir, Then I Am Strong: Moving From My Mother’s Daughter to God’s Child, takes the reader through her chaotic childhood with an alcoholic mother and enabling father to a violent assault that nearly ended her life. She populates her tale with vivid descriptions of her parents, other influential adults, the attacker, and her disastrous first marriage. But this story has a happy ending, when Meg finds solace in a God she didn’t think she’d ever believe in, when He gently helps her heal from her past lives and move into the best times of her life. Meg has also written a novel, Perils of a Polynesian Percussionist, about said first marriage, as well as a Christian devotional, Saints With Slingshots: Daily Devotions for the Slightly Tarnished But Perpetually Forgiven Christian, comprised of blogs from this site. Stay tuned for sequels to her last two books! All of her works may be purchased through her website, www.MegCorrigan.com or from www.amazon.com .