By C. A. Webb “Conversations Book Club” (Jackson, MS) – See all my reviews
In TEDDY BEAR: Stolen Innocence Dr. Loren Due and others share what are very painful and at times unimaginable slivers of their lives as they dealt with abuse. The book begins with Due, himself, taking us into his own pain that unfortunately began in the home with his father and brother and led to choices in life that took him away from the person he was destined to be. Inside of the house where the abuse was born, however, we also learn a great deal about how some families choose to deal with circumstances that might arise in the home as well as issues of mental illness that may not be diagnosed until much later.
While many would choose to hate because of what they have been forced to endure, Dr. Due and those whose stories you get a chance to read take a different approach. They choose to become survivors and forgive those who who did them harm. This is not something that comes easy for some, but that was for me one of the most powerful lessons of this book. The EASY thing would be to hold on to the hate and resentment. It takes strength and courage to forgive and love in spite of. This doesn’t mean that you are condoning the actions, but that you choose to give up judgment to someone higher than you.
Dr. Due even says in the book that he has become a better person in various aspects of his life because of what he has survived. He knows what is right and wrong, and he chooses to do what is right. It’s all about choice.
No matter what we have gone through, there is a lesson for all of us in this. Forgiveness has the power to break any of the chains that might try and bind us to the past. We have to be willing to move forward and let the knowledge of the experiences of our lives to help us be the person we were created to be.
I also want to stress the importance of breaking the silence and letting it be known what is not to be accepted when it comes to our lives. Part of what the abuser uses is the threat that comes with speaking out. We have to know that by telling, by reporting the abuse, we are actually taking the power back that belongs to us—and we are making sure that this doesn’t have to happen to anyone else.
Difficult at times to read but important for us all, TEDDY BEAR: Stolen Innocence is a book that will stay with you forever.
