I write graphic violence without trepidation, relying on my imagination to make it seem real. In this case, it was real and I can't escape the notion that I could have done something to help. Actually, I couldn't do a thing and neither could anyone else, but I shudder when I recall the depths of depravity some will stoop to to gain their way.
I can't tell the story here. I am writing it now and it will come out some day soon, hopefully. When it does, I can only pray that my words will somehow become part of a movement to eliminate this kind of cruelty to abandoned children.
The recent case of a kidnapped child in KC brings it all into sharp focus. Somebody there knows what happened to baby Lisa, but they're not telling. Did they kill her and dispose of her body? Did they take her and bargain for drugs or money? Did some deranged mother take the girl to raise her as her own? It has happened before.
If you haven't figured it out yet, this is a cry from the wilderness for all the abused and neglected children in the world. Many, perhaps most of us, rail against the barbaric practice of abortion, but what do we say after the child has been born? I look upon each child as a gift from God, a gift and a responsibility to care for that little one until he/she grows into an adult.
Now we're getting into another category and I don't want to go there. Suffice it to say, I set a high bar for my own family and expect others to do the same for theirs. I'll close with a rejoinder from one of my favorite college professors: Aim high and you can't help raising your expectations. Aim low and you're bound to score a bullseye, but what has it gained you?
Please join me in a solemn moment of contemplation.
Pat Dale
5 comments:
Heart wrenching topic. You have my added support of prayers. This is probably the most saddest prayer in the world to pray: Dear Lord guard your little children from the vicious cruelty of the very same people You've entrusted them with.
Thank you my friend for bringing light on these shameful atrocities.
This is a sad but real topic. Things that happen under our noses.
I should have added, my working title for this story: A Rabbit Named Billy. What made it more sickening for me was that the man who did the horrible things was an upstanding member of the community; looked up to by one and all.
Don't want to say more now but it involved the use of restraints in the house, along with other cruel but not physical punishments.
I get sick thinking about it.
PD
PD, bringing this topic into the open emphasizes how much of this has gone on in secret for too long. I am also sickened by the abuse of any kind of any child. This story you are telling is definitely necessary to come out and all the horror you described about the various ways adults can foster this abuse is also disgusting. When you look into this subject you wonder where are the advocates for the children? Can't wait to read this new story.
Oh, Pat. I have no words. I'm glad you do. And that you're speaking for all the children.
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