My Peace I Give You - Book Give-Away - Day One

My Peace I Give You, Healing Sexual Wounds with the Help of the Saints.  What an eye-catching title!  When I saw this title some weeks ago, I immediately pre-ordered this book.  I'm glad I did and I want to share it with you. I have one copy of the book to share, as well as some thoughts.

Do you know someone who was sexually abused as a child?  You might think you don't, but I'm betting that you do. You just might not know it, that's all.  Or maybe you do. Or maybe you were.

You see, it's often not something that people talk about...unless they have a reason.   Dawn Eden shares, that she might help others to find healing. I share, that I might help others find her book. It's the first time I have come out publicly to say that I was sexually abused as a child. It wasn't until I was in my forties that I first told my story privately to my husband, older kids, and a few close friends.  Still, my father doesn't know.  (And if you know him, don't tell him.  My father isn't well; I'm not recommending that you don't tell family members.) 

But what is my point?  Mostly this: If you think you don't know anyone who was sexually abused, you probably do. And also this: If you yourself were abused as a child, but you haven't told anyone, no one is asking you to tell the world, as Dawn does to write this book, or as I am doing to promote it.  But it's not shameful, because it wasn't your fault (as hard as that concept may be to internalize).  And personally, I'm going to suggest, if you have never told anyone, to please tell someone...someone you can trust to respect your feelings and whatever confidentiality you may desire.   

What I'm saying here - and what this book is about - is not about current abuse.  If you are currently being abused, I would just say: Get help.  And don't give up. Ask for help until you find it.

But this book is about the wounds we may have from past abuse, and how we can find healing for them through Christ and through the saints.  For decades, I have meditated on the passion of Christ and admired the lives of the saints. And yet, in one book, Dawn Eden brings new insights, helping me better understand how all this can apply to my own life.  Her book has also helped me to understand something which, for me, was very consoling. In becoming a Catholic, I thought I should be healed ("presto, chango", as we used to say as kids)...and yet there are problems in my heart, in some of my friendships, that I can trace back to my childhood sexual abuse. Dawn enlightened me with this statement in her book, "Now that I know my identity is to be found in Christ, I realize the importance of avoiding acting from my pathology.  But there remains the challenge of learning how to act from my wellness, for my wellness co-exists with my wounds."

If you are Catholic - or if you are Christian and open to reading a book that talks about how we can find healing for suffering, in the wounds of Christ and through the saints - then this might be a book you want to have, regardless of the kind of suffering you have experienced in your life.

And this week, one lucky person can get it for free! All you have to do to get a chance to win this book is leave a comment on my blog this week. You can just say hi or ask to be entered in the drawing.  Be sure to sign in, so I can find you if you win. You do not have to have been sexually abused to enter this drawing.  You may also enter because you know someone who was, or simply to understand better those who were, or even to find help in understanding and dealing with other kinds of suffering in your life. And of course you don't have to tell me why you would like the book.   


And you can enter again, all this week, in the comments of my future blog posts.  In subsequent blog posts, I plan to share links to some of the things others have said about Dawn's book, and to post a link to an interview with her. 

Thank you for stopping in today, and God bless you.