The following is a link to this week's Gospel reading, John 1:1-18:
http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=254833165
http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=254833165
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. John 1:5
As many of you know, I am in the final year of a three year master's degree program in clinical mental health counseling. In this final year, we have to actually counsel real people, not just learn about the theory behind counseling. For my internship, I am working with college students. I have 6 clients of my own, and I see two other students each week for what is called an "intake." During these intakes I try to get to know the student a little bit better, as I learn what it is that has brought him or her into the college counseling center.
The students I see for intakes are eventually assigned to other counselors, but it is amazing what they share with me during the brief hour that we spend together. These are young people between the ages of 18 and 25. They are just starting out in their adult lives. It should be a time of hope, excitement and new beginnings, but for them it is not. They come to the counseling center because they are in pain. The darkness in their lives seems to be blotting out the light, and they need someone to walk with them as the seek to find their way back into the light.
There are some days when I feel like I could be overcome by their darkness. (The details of these individual stories have been changed to protect the identities of those who originally shared them.) Their stories are heartbreaking. One young woman who had spent years in the foster care system shared with me her stories of trauma and neglect. Toward the end of our time together she said in a very small voice, "I think it would have been better if I had never existed." Another young man told me the story of his 18th birthday party. His mother threw a big party for him and gave him as a gift several bags of heroin. I have heard countless stories of students who began supporting themselves when they were 12 or 13 years old because their drug addicted parents were unable to take care of them. I am amazed that these young people made it to college.
The students I see for intakes are eventually assigned to other counselors, but it is amazing what they share with me during the brief hour that we spend together. These are young people between the ages of 18 and 25. They are just starting out in their adult lives. It should be a time of hope, excitement and new beginnings, but for them it is not. They come to the counseling center because they are in pain. The darkness in their lives seems to be blotting out the light, and they need someone to walk with them as the seek to find their way back into the light.
There are some days when I feel like I could be overcome by their darkness. (The details of these individual stories have been changed to protect the identities of those who originally shared them.) Their stories are heartbreaking. One young woman who had spent years in the foster care system shared with me her stories of trauma and neglect. Toward the end of our time together she said in a very small voice, "I think it would have been better if I had never existed." Another young man told me the story of his 18th birthday party. His mother threw a big party for him and gave him as a gift several bags of heroin. I have heard countless stories of students who began supporting themselves when they were 12 or 13 years old because their drug addicted parents were unable to take care of them. I am amazed that these young people made it to college.