Reclaiming yourself

Mark Swinney

SOMETIMES it's said that what's yours is yours to keep. Is that always true? There are some things you have that you probably want to hold forever, and other things that you might want to lose as soon as possible.

What about the "intangibles"—the things that aren't obvious at first glance but mean more to you than any material item? Innocence, purity, naturalness, sincerity. Are these qualities yours to keep, or once gone, are they lost forever?

No one has the power to take away anything that God has given you. If that's the only thing you get from reading this, it is enough. If other people have hurt you, have abused you, and you feel your innocence has been stolen from you, you're not alone, and you're definitely not a lost cause. Sometimes what seems saddest is how you might not even have been old enough or experienced enough to know what was happening to you. Maybe to the rest of the world you seem normal, but inside you feel that there is something needing much healing.