Violence and Abuse: Reasons and Remedies
If you have ever wondered what the Bahá’í Writings have to say about healing from the effects of abuse and violence, this is the compilation for you!
You WILL Find Healing through applying the Divine Remedy!
Violence and Abuse: Reasons and Remedies
At only $18.95, you can afford to buy several!
Click here to order “Violence and Abuse: Reasons and Remedies”
Has your life been nearly ruined by physical, sexual, emotional, spiritual or ritual abuse?
Have you suffered from neglect and abandonment?
Have you endured living in a war-torn country or felt powerless by all of the violence in the world?
Have you yearned for a spiritually-based way to heal, consistent with your faith as a Bahá’í?
This book can help! I can’t guarantee that you will end up with your life back, but I can guarantee that the quotes in this book will help you find a deeper sense of peace and resolution than you have today.
I am Susan Gammage and I am thrilled that the quotes in Abuse and Violence: Reasons and Remedies have helped so many of my friends and acquaintances heal from the devastating effects of abuse and violence. I am excited that the healing remedy of the Divine Physician will finally be available world-wide.
Let me share my story with you. The quotes in this book have helped me personally. I am a survivor of childhood abuse of every kind imaginable, and I know how hard the process of recovery can be. That’s why I’ve spent the last twenty years learning to apply these quotes to my own life and sharing them with survivors and their families as well.
When my son was born twenty-four years ago, I started to remember the sexual and ritual abuse I experienced as a child. Every year of his childhood triggered another memory of something that happened to me when I was that age. I was 27 years old and suddenly my entire life revolved around the abuse I’d experienced. My days were filled with flashbacks, panic attacks, horror and terror. I lived from therapy session to therapy session, barely hanging on in-between. Facing the humiliation, brutality, and cruelty, I couldn’t imagine getting through the pain.
It was the time when the proponents of “false memory syndrome” were most active, and I had a hard time finding therapists willing to believe the extreme forms of abuse I’d experienced or to sit with me and listen to my grief, anger, and despair. I had no choice but to shoulder the burden I carried and find my own path toward healing and wholeness-without supportive family or therapists by my side.
I knew that the Bahá’í Writings must contain the remedy, but all I could find were quotes that felt punishing rather than healing. I was angry that there wasn’t a compilation out there that could point me in the right direction for my healing, and angrier still at one Bahá’í therapist who suggested I write it! Gradually, as I read the Writings morning and evening, I began to find inspiring, uplifting quotes which helped lift the burden of my pain and depression.
For several years, I collected and traded quotes that helped explain issues that had me stuck. When asked to facilitate workshops on “Violence and Abuse”, I discovered that the quotes that had helped me so much assisted others as well.
When I couldn’t find explanations I could understand, I wrote several letters to the Universal House of Justice, and received the glimmer of an understanding which led me to put these experiences into a new context, and which allowed me to regain a sense of myself as a noble being. For this I am eternally grateful.
I know from personal experience how it feels to be cut off from your family because of childhood abuse. I have felt the anguish, grief, frustration, and loneliness caused by damaged family relationships.
When I started talking about the abuse and asking questions about my childhood, my relationship with my parents went from bad to worse. They were threatened by my questions and unwilling to discuss any of my childhood experiences with me. They tried to have me declared crazy and to have my son taken away from me.
With the help of the Universal House of Justice, I decided to sever my relationship with my parents in order to keep my son safe. Ultimately, they lost their right of parenthood. Later, when my son was older, I tried to heal the rift, but my mother felt humiliated and angry. She accused me of heaping “the worst form of elder abuse” on her by accusing her of things she hadn’t done. My mother and brothers desperately wanted me to recant, to say it had never happened. Just as desperately, I wanted them to “break through their denial” and acknowledge what had happened. Sadly both my parents died before I was ever to find resolution with them, but I am comforted to know that in the next world, the estrangement is gone.
Through this process I have learned several things:
- I can feel worthless AND know that I was created noble. God’s love for me remains unchanged, despite what I have done or what was done to me.
- The abuse was abasing AND it is me who continues to keep it in that light. It is my job to rise above it, and accomplish that for which I was created.
- The abuse was awful AND there’s a context to put it in (See the sections on the Purpose of Life and the Role of Suffering and Tests).
- I can be in extreme pain as a result of my experiences AND I don’t have to stay trapped there. I can focus my attention away from the pain and towards acquiring virtues.
- I can use a therapist AND when I don’t have the money or my appointment is another week away, I can use the Divine Physician who is always available to me.
- I can be confused by feelings of anger, shame and low self esteem AND I can read about the role models of our faith: the heroes and martyrs of the Cause and of course, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Perfect Exemplar.
- The abusers are criminals and accountable for their actions AND my job is to focus on my own spiritual growth and leave the accountability to God.
- There is no us/them. Bahá’u'lláh tells us we are all sinners. The nature of our sins may vary from person to person (as do our tests), but no one is exempt, therefore there is no one to blame. I recommend the chapter on “Breaking the Cycle” because it has so many practical, do-able suggestions for the transformation of our characters.
In my life coaching practice, survivors of sexual abuse, parents estranged from their children over accusations of abuse, and other family members have repeatedly asked me to publish a resource that would help them resolve lives damaged by abuse. I’ve turned the principles I’ve studied, taught and lived for more than 20 years into this practical and inspiring guide that will help you get from where you are to where you want to be. Get ready to transform!
Click here to order: “Violence and Abuse: Reasons and Remedies”
In Abuse and Violence: Reasons and Remedies, you will learn:
Chapter 1 - The Nature of the Problem
- The Purpose of Life
- Fate and Predestination
- Role of Tests and Difficulties
- The Causes
Chapter 2 – Types of Abuse
Chapter 3 – The Effects on the Victim and Consequences for the Abuser
Chapter 4 – The Remedies
Chapter 5 – Breaking the Cycle of Violence and Abuse
Chapter 6 – Living a Bahá’í Life
Chapter 7- The Role of Individuals, Families and Institutions
For a Detailed Preview of the Table of Contents, click here
Taken together and practiced every day, these principles will transform your life beyond your wildest dreams!
Click here to order “Violence and Abuse: Reasons and Remedies”
What others have said:
- Susan Gammage, in her monumental work of search into the Baha’i writings and literature, has captured a broad range of human afflictions resulting from trauma and abuse of different kinds. As she exposes the wounds, she also presents the healing remedies from the ocean of teachings in the Revelation of Baha’u’llah. Therefore, this book is not a sermon on pain and sorrows; it is a celebration of life with courage to heal – and to heal with faith and dignity. It is an insightful compilation with precious pearls of wisdom from the ocean of Writings and Guidance from the Universal House of Justice; it broadens our vision of life and its destiny, while inspiring our mind and soul to grow greater empathy and care toward those who suffer in silence. (Abdu’l-Missagh Ghadirian, M.D.)
- I wanted to send my love and best wishes regarding your most priceless book. You are right that the world needs the remedy from the Divine Physician. Your book will be a balm to the wounds of an ailing society. I feel so honored to know you. And wish to give you my personal thank you for all the effort you put into making this compilation possible. I realize Baha’u’llah assisted you a great deal in making it happen, but it was through you being like a hollow reed that it was made possible. For that I thank you. And I will surely remember to pray for the success of your book. (Rachel Czifra)
- WOW!!! You are one amazing woman, Susan Gammage. I just finished reading the entire compilation. I can hardly believe how much work and love have gone into that collection – both yours, and all the women and men who wrote to the House. You will be greatly thanked as the years go by for this wonderful piece of healing you have arduously assembled. (Grace Guido)
- It will be a great resource for those involved in counseling as well as a great reference for quotations that have a specific slant towards suffering and the healing process. . . The potential for this book is considerable both for believers undergoing severe tests and for those who provide counseling. It is extensive, sensitive, and provides so much hope and promise. (National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’is of Canada)
- I am looking forward to the book (Pat Romano)
- Because our books are completely different, they will become companion books for LSA’s and those who want to recover (Phyllis Peterson)
Bonus Offers
In order to keep costs down, the publisher has limited the book to 230 pages, which resulted in losing many important quotes, so for everyone who buys the book from this website, I will send you a FREE copy of the deleted quotes, as well as the 73 page Guidelines for Spiritual Assemblies on Domestic Violence of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. Once you have paid, email your receipt to info@susangammage.com and I will forward the bonuses to you.
Abuse and Violence: Reasons and Remedies
At only $18.95, you can afford to buy several!
Click here to order “Violence and Abuse: Reasons and Remedies”
[...] Products and Services Abuse and Violence [...]