Words³

Trauma, Abuse, and the Eternal Advent

When I first entered into this profession, I wanted very much to work with spiritual abuse.

Spiritual abuse was witnessed in so much of my daily life growing up, whether it was people’s weaponization of their faiths, people’s objectification by their elders, or people simply struggling to witness their own internal value- all of these things returned to a spirituality that showed up in a violence that felt very devoid of God. Very devoid of life itself.

However, a surprising shift happened within my first few years as a therapist. I began to work with men and women who had experienced other types of abuse and trauma, whether at the hands of others, themselves, or the simple reality that they had been mortally wounded by this world itself. These individuals with garden variety traumas, these wounds and injuries of untold caliber, were also mourning and lamenting the same loss of life I was. Individuals who were injured by substance abuse, childhood trauma, domestic violence within their relationships, all had the same internal song to which they sung for what they could not see anymore. Trauma had rendered them unable to see wholeness and the way things were “supposed,” to be any longer.

As I worked with trauma in general, I came to understand that this collective choir of trauma, and therefore- restoration, was actually singing the same song together. This song of desire to be able to see beyond the blindness, perhaps for the first time within their lives, was a marvel to behold. Whether the voices are different or similar in nature, it made no difference whether the instrument they played had them contributing different original music or a tune as old as time itself. They were participating in a call for restoration and a call for wholeness to be able to join the ‘with.’ The Immanuel, if you will. (Thankfully, the Immanuel does all of that on His own)

All abuse is spiritual in nature as we all have a collective desire for fundamental restoration. And therefore, spiritual abuse is rooted within each other type of violence.

We are currently approaching the Advent season and I recognize that this choir singing about “wholeness outside of their reach,” remains the desire of humanity as a whole. Advent itself is the process of preparing our own hearts to remember Christ’s initial coming and the final restoration beyond this moment. We hunger and yearn for the restoration of what should be, beyond our current blindness. During the Advent preparation to receive Christmas, we long for the arrival of the Christ, the salvation and balm to our separation from all that is good and ought to remain. But we stand with one another, hand in hand as we look forward to the arrival and manifestation of the Healer in all of His goodness.

Restoration comes not within a military mechanization, but rather a helpless babe, tender and exposed to all of the perils and sharp things the world would offer. But perhaps we too, must recognize our tender wounds and injuries actual draw us into the choir singing a song of “wholeness outside of their reach.” Our tender wounds and injuries draw us near to and fuel our appreciation for Life itself.

Today I am reminded that working with trauma is like an eternal advent, forever awaiting the arrival of the Christ. We remain stalwart defenders of the hope of the restoration of shalom, of wholeness despite our current reality. Not despite conflict, but within it and through it.

Perhaps, like a baby.

In a manger.

Luke W. Phillipi is an LPC in the state of Colorado and works with with adults, couples, and teenagers regarding trauma, anxiety, and changes within their lives. When he is not working, Luke enjoys making Pad Thai with his wife Rebekah and their dog, Zimbabwe.