Please Know...

As I come to know these fine people, they share with me more of their personal and sensitive stories. Their collective story is what I am trying to share with you as my way of breaking the stereotypical beliefs that exist. "Blog names" have occasionally been given to me by the person whose story I am telling. Names are never their actual names and wherever I can do so, I might use the opposite pronoun (his/her, etc.) just to help increase their privacy.

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Friday, April 6, 2018

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed

As I have been privileged to hear the very personal stories of the residents of Emerald City and its surrounding bridge communities, I have heard many accounts of hideousness forced upon these human beings in the years of their childhood and youth.  Steve Arterburn writes about this in his book, Walking Into Walls: 5 Blind Spots That Block God's Work In You.  (Bold lettering added by me.)

In 1977 I began my studies in counseling at a seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. For the first time, I looked forward to every day of school. Very quickly I was involved in doctoral courses and providing counseling under the supervision of doctoral students. I loved it and believed, as I still do, that I had found my purpose: to help people with emotional and mental problems.

As I progressed I wanted to gain experience with those struggling with the worst of psychiatric diagnoses. The only job I could find was as an attendant on a psychiatric ward, and I took it with great excitement and dedication. My job description was to help in any way needed. That meant counseling a newly admitted patient or cleaning toilets. In my ascent from custodian to chief therapist, I saw nearly every kind of emotional and mental damage. Much of it was inflicted by cruel and heartless perpetrators who ripped normalcy out of patients’ lives and left them with scarred souls.

At first, I could not understand the depths of evil committed against the innocent. One man’s moment of sexual gratification often destroyed the healthy and happy life of another. I don’t have research figures, but I would guess that one moment of illicit sexual gratification produces ten thousand moments of pain and suffering during the lifetime of a victim.

It wasn’t just men who wreaked havoc on the lives of the young. Mothers did it too. Some smothered, even trapped their young to always be there for them throughout their entire lives. Never free to become independent adults, these tethered people collapsed into psychiatric care, not understanding why life was so unmanageable or their minds so filled with conflict. Unexpressed rage and ungrieved loss piled on top of confusion and disappointment.[1] 
                   
Those of us on the outside of addiction looking in need to realize that these sons and daughters are not living under bridges because they want to be there:

He does not hold his 'hungry' sign on the white line in the middle of a busy intersection and dodge traffic because he enjoys almost being hit by bad drivers and having things thrown at him or being cursed at for being "a worthless junkie." 

She does not allow herself to be tied to the bed in a center city hotel room while a wealthy attorney who has told his wife that he's working late this night has his way with her.


Independence Hall is at the bottom.
Emerald City is at the top.
It is this Creator God that our Nation's Forefathers wrote of 3.03 miles away from Emerald City and its surrounding bridge communities and thereby changed the governance of our land and world when they penned these words in the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, [2]

When our current city government officials and their police representatives: 
  • order that these under-the-Conrail-tracks residents move all of their belongings out from the relative protection of the bridge and into the rain and snow[3] so a weekly housekeeping can be done,
  • arrest our daughters for prostitution when they despise and cry about prostituting themselves,[4]
  • and more, 

they are making it clear NOT that they are being mean or uncaring.  They just don't understand that these men and women would much prefer Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness but due to their medical condition that is a recognized condition in the DSM-5, they cannot achieve in the absence of medical, psychological or spiritual intervention.

Dear Government Officials of the City of Brotherly Love and Birthplace of the Now Internationally Recognized Birthplace of the Concept of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,

Please know that your sons and daughters who live in Emerald City, its surrounding bridge, and equivalent communities throughout your city are human men and women who would prefer healing and wholeness over addiction and homelessness. 

I encourage you to sit on the sidewalk and listen to your city's current residents who reside there.  Within their God created intelligence lies the real and essential answers to this current pandemic that is expected to claim 1,500 more lives of residents of your city during this calendar year. 

Prior to being as you now see them, many of them were serving society as professional tradesmen or college graduates from schools of nursing, social work, various aspects of medicine and law.  Some were and are artists and poets and musicians.  Some may have helped develop your current skyline through architectural design.  Others have never seen the inside of your high schools.

Please come to know these people for who they are; humans created by God and, therefore, worthy of dignity, honor, respect, and brotherly love with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness and not simply as homeless sufferers of addiction.

Sincerely,
Chris Battin

************************************

Dear Readers,

I am being evicted from my rental home in the most polite way any homeowner can do so.  My home's owners have decided to sell this beautiful house I've called home for the past seven or so years.  My service business all but disappeared through this past winter.  I cannot seem to find the magic words to convince a computerized "Human Resources" hiring system that I'm worth being interviewed by a living person. 

Just as are the addicted and homeless men and women of Emerald City and its surrounding bridge communities, I am a man who is in search of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.  I am currently a resident of Delaware County, Pa. 

My resume which highlights my growing interest in service to addicted people and 20 years of medical hospital service can be made available upon request.

Sincerely,
Chris
ccwbattin@gmail.com 




[1] Arterburn, Stephen. Walking Into Walls: 5 Blind Spots That Block God's Work In You. Ingram Distribution. Kindle Edition.

[2] https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript           
[3] Therefore rendering their clothes and bedding useless against the elements
[4] Dear Ladies of Emerald City and its surrounding bridge communities who I care so very much for, Please know that I despise those "P" words but felt that they fit the discussion better than the more accepted words " dates and dating."

2 comments:

  1. You have a gift for writing
    And I think you would be a great youth minister at a church

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you very much. I appreciate your kind words.

      Delete