THE MINNESOTA HUMANITIES CENTER 987 IVY AVENUE ~ SAINT PAUL, MN 55106-2046

‘We’ Are Spirit

WVI is changing it’s newsletter a little bit. We are going to be looking at projects, programs, events and issues as a theme for each quarterly newsletter. We welcome comments. ~ Chante Wolf, USAF 1980-92, Desert Storm

Sheila Laughlin, LtCol., USAF, Retired, WVI Board Member. ~ I was asked for my take on “Spirit” and what I would say to someone interested in my opinion. While I have a Christian perspective, I believe that religions are “only different wells reaching down to the same river”. But more important than any intellectual take, is the experience of Spirit which is the definition of spirituality. In my work at the Welcome Home Program, I help people “hear” and “see” the Spirit’s movement in their unique experiences and lives. I believe that as a fish cannot understand the immensity and complexity of the ocean, humans cannot understand Spirit. We live, move and have life within it but do not have the capacity to fully comprehend it. So perhaps it is easier to start with what Spirit is not. Spirit, (aka God, Ultimate Source, Creator, the Divine etc.) is not like Santa Claus who: 1) is male, 2) visits once a year, 3) keeps track of who’s naughty or nice and 4) withholds gifts because of bad behavior. Gender requires a physical body which by definition, Spirit does not have. (Jesus did have a body and called God Father as a description of their relationship and a reflection of his time and culture.) Even though we can have a personal relationship, keeping track of our “fish” behavior would make the Ultimate Source very small and petty—but that’s not saying behavior doesn’t matter. Like the ocean to the fish, the Creator is always both with and within us. The Divine loves us into being and withholds nothing. Love or grace is not so much something Spirit gives but rather what Spirit is. And since everything Spirit creates is an extension of itself, no thing

is evil. Spirit neither causes nor allows illness, tragedy or death to punish us but is the “force” for good which encourages us to be part of the creative process. Spirit uses natural processes and consequences to entice us into relationship and to help us recognize the Divine in our world with no conflict between Spirit and science. No one reaches Spirit through their own efforts, merit or behavior but only by Spirit’s desire and love for creation. Yes, people do evil things, make bad decisions and don’t acknowledge Spirit’s presence in themselves or others. Yes, there is “sin” in the world but in the end, love wins out. Redemption/resurrection is available to everyone. For more information, see the web sites at: http://LoyolaSpiritualityCenter.org/welcomehome.html.

http://ARCretreat.org

www.healing-memories.org

* * * * * * * * Amy Blumenshine, Ph.D., “Coming Home Collaborative”, WVI supporter. ~ Attending a workshop changed my life. In 2005, I attended a breakout session on the reintegration challenges of veterans at the annual MN Social work conference. The pathos of a young couple captured my attention. He had just returned from his deployment where he had developed a separate persona, complete with a new nickname, in order to do what he’d been sent to do. His wife was desperately trying to connect with the man she loved, and he was clearly confused. Their angst touched me. As I proceeded to learn more about then-underpublicized needs, I began to recognize a religious call to serve. We started the Coming Home Collaborative to raise awareness in both the counseling and religious communities of the need to address the suffering of veterans and their families.

WOMEN VETERANS INITIATIVE NEWSLETTER ISSUE N0. 5 ~ 2016

WHO WE ARE

WVI works to improve the lives and wellbeing of all women veterans through: Advocacy at the state and federal level; Innovative outreach programs and Holistic health & wellness programs that address the unique needs of female veterans. * * * * * * * Find us on FaceBook or our website: www.womenveterans initiative.com/

BOOKS: “Understanding Military Sexual Trauma” Miette Wells, Ph.D.

“Powder: Writing by Women in the Ranks, from Vietnam to Iraq” Edited by Lisa Bowden & Shannon Cain

“Daring Greatly” Brene’ Brown, Ph.D, LMSW

Women Veterans

Initiative Newsletter

THE MINNESOTA HUMANITIES CENTER 987 IVY AVENUE ~ SAINT PAUL, MN 55106-2046

* * * * * * * *

~ Continued from page 1 I learned that the particularities of the wounding and the healing necessary would require more tools than those of my MSW background. I attended seminary and completed other requirements to become an official Lutheran minister. The Coming Home Collaborative has been part of the national efforts to understand soul wounds and moral injury and how to heal. We hold Vets Ministry Roundtables for those interested in ministry with veterans and their families as a way of helping each other learn. We support the Healing of Memories workshops and other evolving recovery efforts. We support the empowerment of women inside and outside of the military and salute the Women Veterans Initiative. The CHC vision is that our society would understand the moral and spiritual wounding of war and provide pathways of healing to veterans and their families.

NEW ~ Shared Reading Corner:

“The Morning After I Killed Myself ” by Meggie Royer

The morning after I killed myself, I woke up. I made myself breakfast in bed. I added salt and pepper to my eggs and used my toast for a cheese and bacon sandwich. I squeezed a grapefruit into a juice glass. I scraped the ashes from the frying pan and rinsed the butter off the counter. I washed the dishes and folded the towels. The morning after I killed myself, I fell in love. Not with the boy down the street or the middle school principal. Not with the everyday jogger or the grocer who always left the avocados out of the bag. I fell in love with my mother and the way she sat on the floor of my room holding each rock from my collection in her palms until they grew dark with sweat. I fell in love with my father down at the river at he placed my note into a bottle and sent it into the current. With my brother who once believed in unicorns but now sat in his desk at school trying desperately to believe I still existed. The morning after I killed myself, I walked the dog. I watched the way her tail twitched when a bird flew by or how her pace quickened at the sight of a cat. I saw the empty space in her eyes when she reached a stick and turned around to greet me so we could play catch but saw nothing but sky in my place. I stood by as strangers stroked her muzzle and she wilted beneath their touch like she did once for mine. The morning after I killed myself, I went back to the neighbors’ yard where I left my footprints in concrete as a two year old and examined how they were already fading. I picked a few daylilies and pulled a few weeds and watched the elderly woman through her window as she read the paper with the news of my death. I

saw her husband spit tobacco into the kitchen sink and bring her her daily medication. The morning after I killed myself, I watched the sun come up. Each orange tree opened like a hand and the kid down the street pointed out a single red cloud to his mother. The morning after I killed myself, I went back to that body in the morgue and tried to talk some sense into her. I told her about the avocados and the stepping stones, the river and her parents. I told her about the sunsets and the dog and the beach. The morning after I killed myself, I tried to unkill myself, but couldn’t finish what I started.

http://imgur.com/gallery/OVYcta3

Speak up if you are hurting, or listen to your buddy if they are. There is help out there, all you have to do is speak up! The light is on at the shore for you! Walk towards it.

Other Projects about Veteran Suicides:

http://www.stopsoldiersuicide.org

http://www.22toomany.com

http://www.8030project.com

https://wwwveteranscrisisline.net

PLEASE DONATE your experiences or funds, today! We hope you will join us in creating connections and community.

WOMEN VETERANS INITIATIVE NEWSLETTER ISSUE N0. 5 ~ 2016

The Warrior of the Light knows the value of persistence and of

courage. Often, during combat, she receives blows that she was not expecting. And she realizes that, during war, her enemy is bound to win some of the battles. When this happens, she weeps bitter tears and rests in order to recover her energy a little. But she immediately resumes her battle for her dreams. The longer she remains away, the more likely she is to feel weak, fearful, and intimidated. When a horsewoman falls off her horse, if she does not remount immediately, she will never have the courage to do so again.

“Warrior of the Light” Paulo Coelho

Chante Wolf, USAF 1980-92, Desert Storm, WVI Board Member, suicide survivor.

Capt. Ryann Engholm, USMC, 2nd right, with her female crew, in Afghanistan.