Mountain biking and restorative justice
Jun 28, 2010
from Lorenn's entry on Restorative Justice & Other Public Health Approaches for Healing:
I was almost murdered 34 years ago by a stranger and suffered serious injuries that required surgery and hospitalization. My physical injuries took almost 4 months to heal, but my emotional wounds took much longer.
During the first months of recovery I spent a lot of time blaming myself and dwelling on my mistakes. “What were you doing in the dark alone?” I spent my time looking at where I didn’t want to go and I lived there in misery. Eventually the pain became overwhelming. I found help from Harold Hall, Ph.D. who helped me see my strengths and helped me begin to heal emotionally by getting me to look toward the future.
As my focus shifted away from resentment and sorrow for my pain toward what I might do and where I might go, so did my life.
Four months after almost being strangled to death and recovering physically, I was sitting in a college classes at Kauai’i Community College excitedly discussing books by Mark Twain and Albert Camus. Suddenly my life was all about where I wanted to go. I was finding joy and satisfaction from doing the work that would take me to a future that I wanted and off the trail I was stumbling on without direction that was fueled mainly by fear.
Restorative justice helps us see what we need to repair harm caused by wrongdoing and social injustice. Restorative justice gives us time to pause and consider how we might make things right with people we may have hurt, and also for ourselves if we have been hurt or if others have hurt us.
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I am amazed that these people give the Lord Jesus credit for their healing from such tramatic events in their lives.The Lord is incredible in His example of forgiveness of our sins no matter what they are. It is exciting to see how His agape love can destroy satans attemps to destroy our lives. I have struggled through some very challenging times in the sixty two years I have lived. Many times I had almost given up on the Lord,because my pain was so great and He seemed so far away from me. Each time He has allowed me to find Him and to ask for His wisdom, His love, and His forgiveness. In Him I have found the ability to forgive others and myself. He has often given me agape love for the person who has hurt me. How amazing. Today I seeking His love and direction and the ability to forgive a woman who led my neices, my nephew and brother into drug addiction and into illegal acts. I have hated this woman at times when I see the destruction that she has caused in peoples lives. I know that hate is from satan and God has told me that she is His child and that He loves her. For fifteen years I have struggled to forgive Sherry, but I am still struggling. I have asked for forgivness from God for my unforgivness towards Sherry, but I see a new generation of childern that she is involved in destroying. My bitterness and anger over flows each time a new incident occurs. God grace is sufficent for this and I will continue to seek His guidance in the forgiveness that needs to happen in my life towards Sherry.