In many families, the needs and rights of a loving relationship are not met and respected. For too many people families are dangerous places in which to live. Instead of being treated with dignity and respect, as sacred creations of God, women especially are being treated with injustice and abuse. They are systematically and ruthlessly cut off from becoming whole persons because of someone else’s insecurities and abuse.
Many times we are oblivious to the number of people around us who are in pain. Denial of what is going on may condemn abused women, their abusers and children to a life of isolation and pain, perpetuating the generational cycle of family violence.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. What will you do today to end domestic violence?
This message is adapted from the resource Women: Meant to be Whole, published by Women of the ELCA in 1989. Today is the Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost. The readings are: Isaiah 53:4-12; Job 38:1-7 [34-41] (semicontinuous); Psalm 91:9-16; Psalm 104:1-9, 24, 35b (semicontinuous); Hebrews 5:1-10; Mark 10:35-45 (Green).
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