I've noticed that there is a new age cult of "trauma" that is very seductive. It happened in the Middle Ages as well, when so-called saints prided themselves on their sufferings, identifying them with the wounds of the crucified Jesus. Once upon a time, "spiritual" people said, "Holier than thou," but now many seem to say, "More traumatized than thou."
The "wounded" and the "traumatized" have become the new Elect, the Saved. But this is just another way to separate the righteous from the unrighteous, and it is based on the false notion that your trauma makes you special. Let's get something straight. Though some people like to wear it on their sleeve and tell stories about it all the time, while others work it out in quietness and privacy, EVERYONE has been traumatized. We all have suffered. One person's suffering is not "deeper" or more virtuous than another's. We are born from a wound, and the woundedness is why we're here. This is a planet of wounds. Ask any bud that burst into a flower.
A Teacher once said: "Be compassionate: everyone is fighting a great battle." Let us be a healing presence to one another, and not clamor so much about our personal traumas. Let it simply be understood that we have all been hurt, and our hurts are not competing. Through even the smallest wound a ray of divine light shines, to heal a friend. Peace.
Painting: Christ the wounded healer, by Rembrandt
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