I am a Christian, but as a Chaplain, I am required to help people no matter what faith they have or if they have no faith at all, just as a person. In my years on this earth, I've attended many services in different denominations and faiths, aside from a lifetime at my own church back in Massachusetts, working for another here in Florida for two years, my life has been consumed by my faith. It was my faith that got me and my family through the darkest times faced by families living with PTSD.
It does not matter what faith you have because either that was the faith you were born into or the faith that tugged at your heart. You need to understand that the trauma you survived was not sent by God as judgment against you. Part of PTSD is pulling away from the faith you had in your life. Even atheists can reconnect to that part of them that was connected spiritually to something.
If you felt you belonged to a certain place of worship, return to it and reach out to the head of that faith to have your spiritual wounds healed. If you feel as if they are not listening or do not want to help you, then find another place to worship. A religious environment should not be a place to make you feel angry, judgmental or feed into hatred no matter what the leaders hide behind.
When it is a Christian church especially, if they do not embrace the teachings of Christ, then no matter what they claim, they are not preaching his message or living up to it. Find another church because the healing you need will not happen there. If you believe they hate other people or judge other people. in the back of your mind, you will be thinking they are doing the same when it comes to you and you will not be able to be honest so that you can heal. You need someone to help you to forgive whatever you feel you need to be forgiven for from yourself because it is not God who is condemning you. If Christ could forgive those who nailed Him to the cross, what makes you think that surviving trauma makes you less worthy?
So here's some warning signs to find another church:
Members will gossip and that happens all the time but when the head of the church does it, find another church. You won't be able to trust that person with your faith or believe what words come out of his mouth.
If the sermons are mostly about hating, condemning or judging anyone, find another church. That is not the place to find love, healing or hope.
If you go to them with the issues involving PTSD and they give bad advice, won't listen, tell you that it's God's judgment, you are suffering for the sins in your life or have no clue what you are talking about, find another church. If the leaders of the churches have not become informed on what PTSD is after all these years, then they should not have the job they have being unwilling to "tend to the flock" that was given to them.
If a pastor, minister or priest, reads the scripture of the love of Christ and the sacrifice of His life followed up by a rant about how you are supposed to stand in judgment of others, find another church.
It's time that places of worship returned to what they were intended to be and they were not intended to be a simple social gathering. They are supposed to be there to feed your soul. Remember this tomorrow when you go to church and pay close attention as to why you feel as if you don't really belong there. Chances are, you don't. Don't blame Christ or God by forgetting about worshiping them just because the person standing in their place forgot their own place.
If you attend another place of worship as a different faith, the same lesson applies. They are supposed to be feeding your soul if they don't, find some other place to worship. You need all the help you can get to heal and it's their job to help you do that.
Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
"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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