Dear God,
“The girl looked 10 though they tried to convince me she was 14 years old. I tried to breathe. I needed to breathe. So I rushed out of the room.
I had to walk to the tree at the end of the street to stop the stench from following me. It was horrible, so horrible. How is it even possible that such humans are allowed to live?”, my friend cried.
“How?” She stared at me blankly.
Hmm.
I tried to process the story I was hearing but my mind couldn’t build reality into it. I watched Geraldine as she cried. Her face was all red, especially around the eyes, and nose. She kept pulling her nose and robbing her eyes as if she was personally angry with them for making her see and hear the story.
After a while, she quieted down and was deep in thought.
Dad, You’d think that as a good friend, I would know what to say, right?
Wrong!
I had no clue what to say to her and how to navigate the story I had just heard.
Some things are outright weird.
It’s either my mind refused to believe it happened, or my brain was too right-winged.
“What do you want to do now?” I asked gently, urging the wisdom that I know sits somewhere in my brain to react.
She shrugged. “She is his daughter, the family wants to decide ……?
“Family? What family? The same family that stood and watched it happen?” I shouted starting to feel the anger coming…
(Wisdom…..not anger, I whispered to my brain….)
She sighed again, her eyes welling up some more.
“He is the father”, she whispered as if she was afraid to voice it.
“He is the devil” I retorted, trying so hard to tame the aggressor forcing its way out of my head.
“Has this been reported to the police?”, I heard myself ask.
(Finally, wisdom is awake….Hallelujah)
“Who will report it? The community lives in fear of him.”
She shrugged again shaking her head.
“You know what beats me is how this man sleeps at night with all of these atrocities? Is he even human?”, Geraldine asked rhetorically
“Same questions in my head”, I said sadly
“But that’s our opinion really, you need to hear the family”….she paused.
“You have to report this, Geraldine”, I said calmly.
She shook her head…
What….? My eyes flared…..(Aaah, anger!, Father, please come and carry this aggressor out of my head, I whispered)
She held my hand gently, shaking her head….”Look around you my dear, you live in this country, you know the drill….family matters.” “This battle is not onto war…..wisdom and tact is all we need”
I stared at her. Now that my adrenalin is busting loose for action, she is choosing a holy battle?
Hmmm
I stared quietly into space with her…..and sighed sadly
Yes, maybe she is right. Some battles do not need guns, they need grace and wisdom from you, Lord.
Which brings me to my usual questions, “How is it that you let these things happen?” “How?”
Same old, right?
“What part of our sanity did we lose?”
Same nothingness, Yes?
Well, I will tell you the full story when I can wrap my head around it….
For now, this is Your daughter and I am checking in.