For a while I have been deliberating on getting a session or two of EMDR. A friend has gone through it and says that he still remembers the painful events but doesn't feel the trauma anymore. The most traumatic moment in my life has been learning of Ann's affair. I have been wondering if there isn't some lasting residual effect that gets in the way still.
I think EMDR can be helpful for many, especially adults with significant childhood trauma, but for me I have decided I am going to skip it.
Rick Diamond talks about sacred wounds in Wrestling with God,
The story says that the man knocks Jacob's hip out of joint in order to escape. This is what the mythic tradition calls the "sacred wound". King Arthur sails away with one. The resurrected Jesus bears the marks of his crucifixion. Women's bodies and hearts are changed forever after the wounding trauma of giving birth. God commands the men of ancient Israel to carry circumcision on their bodies, a ritual scarring, as a sign of their being a separate tribe (and as a symbol of Abraham submitting his sexuality to God according to Janelle Hallman, my addition). Luke Skywalker loses a hand. Boys and girls in tribal cultures have scars on their faces from initiation ceremonies. These wounds are remnants of our baptisms and our deaths and rebirths. You live through the dying process, but you are never the same. You have a story to tell. You know what it is to feel pain.
At this point in my life my sacred wound is the splitting of my soul that occured in the moment of the revelation of the affair. It was made somewhat more intense by the fact that I was three weeks into my first semester at seminary. My soul split but has since been rejoined as only God can fasten me. Recalling that healed wound in my soul takes me to a place of thinking about God's redemption in my life and marriage. This healed wound has made me stronger and more courageous. That makes it... a gift to value.
