The three great religions of the world claim the same God as their own. All claim kinship with Abraham. All worship in Jerusalem. All of these humans, all calling out to the same God. Why? Because there is hope. Hope that a divine Someone, creator of heaven and earth, is so powerful, He can care about even them.
When traumatic events happen, they call out in anguish "why" as they witness the horrors committed by other humans or the wrath of nature's fury. They look toward heaven questioning every belief they ever had including the very existence of God. We all question it. Even Mother Teresa did as it has just been released. For some, faith is restored soon after the event ends.
For me, it came with the loss of twins I was carrying. Four and a half months of joy and expectation followed by a miscarriage. I questioned my faith that up until then had been as natural to me as breathing. For the first time in my life I knew what it felt like to be abandoned by God. It only lasted a few days before I was standing at the office door, just as the sun was beginning to rise. The sky turned purple. In that moment, as I looked at the magnificent dawn, I knew I had not been abandoned, but had let go of the Hand I had always held, just when I needed it the most. In a lifetime of tragedies and trials, I have seen only moments of the effects a traumatic experience can have. Even now as I do what I do and have to see the pictures, hear the stories and read the accounts, they are only glimpses of what others are living with. They haunt me some nights and I get very depressed from time to time when I think I've just heard enough, but those dark times pass.
For those with PTSD, those dark days do not pass. There is no spectacular message delivered. There is the sense of abandonment that does not go away. This I've heard from more than 80% of those I am in contact with. It is one of the most reported events within the traumatic event. How can a human not question God when they witness the devastation of the land and everything they owned? How can they not question the existence of a loving God when they see what he allows humans to do to other humans without stopping them? How can they not question their faith and everything they believed in when within seconds, it was all violently challenged?
For combat veterans, they are not just witnesses to carnage, they are participants. No matter how noble the belief that what they are doing is right, they will blame themselves. A soldier forced to kill a child because that child was sent as an assassin. A Marine forced to kill a woman because she was also wearing a bomb vest. A young soldier too frightened to be cool with a loaded machine gun opens fire and kills an innocent driver because he did not follow the warning directions in a language he did not understand. They blame themselves when a friend dies as well. They wonder why they were able to survive but their friend didn't. All this causes them to feel guilty, judged and abandoned. Some will believe they deserved to be abandoned, while others will begin to wonder if what they understood God to be had been totally wrong.
At the same time their emotions were assaulted, their faith was equally assaulted by the trauma.
When the psychiatric community and the spiritual community join forces, the recovery is stronger. This I found out by accident. With the backlog of claims and many veterans unable to get into the treatment they need, I resorted to advising them to seek out their clergy. Knowing they were trained in psychology, they seemed to be the logical choice. Given the fact most of clergy training is underutilized, as well as knowing the urgent need to get the veteran into some kind of therapy as soon as possible, there was no other option. I couldn't tell them to just wait to get to see someone at the VA.
There is also the issue of careers involved. There are some worried about security clearances for example and they cannot even see a government psychologist. There are some who have been discharged under the "personality disorder" tag and they can't see a VA psychologist while also dealing with financial problems.
The veterans turning to the clergy end up beginning to reconnect with God. For Christians, they rediscover the same loving God they knew in their childhood who loved the world so much He sent Jesus. For Jewish and Muslim believers they too find that same connection they had with the God of their faith. There is a spiritual hunger in each of us that some will fill with whatever comes their way but while most seek a bonding with God.
For the veterans with PTSD there is an urgency right now all across the country. Especially for the National Guard. The latest reported figure places National Guardsman at 50% PTSD and they do not have the resources to find the community support they need as they return to their lives, jobs and pressures of normal civilian life. I think the answer is for the religious teachers across the country to minister to the most needy in their community. When you help to heal a wounded veteran, you are also healing the family and friends they love. Isn't that what God would expect out of you? Heal their wounded souls while the psychological community heals their minds and you will move mountains. You will help hold families together until they can get the medical care they need. I've seen it enough times already when a veteran begins to reconnect with God, they heal faster and better, families are reconnected to each other and forgiveness is possible. The clergy need to step up and provide the dawn of a new day for our wounded.
Kathie Costos
www.Namguardianangel.blogspot.com
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington
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