Bethlehem Lutheran Church
The Heart of Bay Ridge
Sunday Service 10:30am
4th & Ovington Avenues
Brooklyn NY 11209
718.748.9502
Dear Members and Friends,
During the summer I received a piece of writing by Carl Gustav Jung. I immediately thought of the staff of The Healing Center because it reflected the work they do every day. Since this is “Domestic Violence Awareness Month” and we will be accentuating the ministry of The Healing Center on Sunday, October 18th, I thought it would be appropriate to share it with you all. The words just might hit home for you as well. The work is entitled, “Poisons.”
There are poisons you take in every day.
Sometimes they are called Mother. Sometimes Father. Sometimes Grandmother or Grandfather.
There are poisons that often do not even know they are poisons, yet they leave a toxic imprint on us.
"Don't say that." "That's not appropriate." "Not now." "You wouldn't understand."
These poisons are injected into us day after day through education, emotional manipulation, fear, and silence.
There are poisons that become such a part of you that you no longer recognize them for what they are.
Feeling inadequate. Never believing you are enough. Guilt. Fear of abandonment.
The belief that love must be earned.
The conviction that you must become someone else because who you are is never enough.
There are poisons we pass on without realizing it, because we are unaware of how deeply toxic they can be.
There are poisons we believe we must hand down simply because they were handed down to us.
Then there are the people who are the antidote.
Thankfully, sometimes they are called Mother, Father, Grandmother, or Grandfather.
Sometimes they are called husband, wife, partner, friend, teacher, or therapist.
Sometimes we do not even know what to call them.
We only know one thing:
They make us feel safe.
They help us heal.
They remind us who we truly are.
These are the people we should choose to surround ourselves with.
And above all, these are the people we should strive to become.
People of Bethlehem, God calls us to be the antidote.
In the Lord's Service
Rev. Paul H. Knudsen
Pastor Paul's October Message
Bethlehem Lutheran Church ® | 4th & Ovington Avenues, Brooklyn NY 11209 | 718.748.9502
A member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
