The world over, ACU-cases are replete. In Africa, ACU-situations are notably predominant among children in Refugee-camps; in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps; child-soldiers; street children; slum children and among a majority of children in destitute households. Talking about HIV/AIDS orphans and children of single mothers or in the care of stepmothers would be like talking about yet another category of ACU-situations. One can’t simply cite CEDS [Children in Especially Difficult Situations] without having at the same time referred to yet another category of children falling within the ACU-description.
Globally, ACU-situations must be that worrying. There is a need for comprehensive responses to the distress-call David Russell’s ACU initiative has signaled.
Love and Godliness are inextricably linked. Most people spend their entire lives looking for the meaning of life. Their hedonistic indulgences drive them to the edge of the cliff from where they can’t, on their own, beat a retreat. The situations they find themselves in would demand that they be salvaged. And so, in their quest for joy, happiness and love, they may end up on the brink of disaster instead of accessing entry into the realm of joy and inner peace.
Indeed, attainment of the four-letter word – love - is what most people spend their entire lifetime relentlessly, restlessly and even recklessly pursuing, to no avail.
Of course, to love and be loved remains an elusive quest. God is love. The two-dimension realm is the twin-towers of individual stability and well-being. It would therefore be agreeable – more readily so by those who believe in God than those who don’t – that God is the well-spring of love and happiness. God is the way and the truth that defines the essence and fulfillment of life’s purpose. Outside Him are life’s mis-purposes.
But the concept of God being the centre of our being stirs up unspeakable rage in some people. Such people miss out on seeking God’s face hence missing altogether the chance to revel in His goodness whose end result is happiness and joy that sprout from the assurance that He loves you. And, because of His love, you can easily love others and be loved by them.
Thus, as far as faith is concerned, there is one common denominator: we all need and desire to love and be loved; to appreciate others and to be appreciated… and to care for and to be cared for by others other than ourselves. Matter of fact, life is, in divine substance, constructive and positive outside hedonism and exhibitionism that have become commonplace in today’s secular world. Secular pursuits present a world filled with socially dysfunctional beings, hiding behind the veil of glamour; individuals who are void on the inside, empty and starving for love and tenderness no one around seems willing or ready to give – except for a very few.
Many of us are haunted by the psychological hell imposed upon us by traumatized childhoods we’ve been through. The prospects of being liberated from the trauma of childhood tribulations seem remote and illusionary; only the agony seems real. Victims experience a spiral of dark dank despair that spares not the very core of our inner souls.
But then, love and happiness, just as has been cited above, stem from, well, God! Only in God realm do we find love and rediscover ourselves as a way of self-liberation from the prison of empty and meaningless life…even amidst the splendour and plenty! Now, of true love, it is non-existent if it doesn’t entail giving self-sacrificially to save others from whatever situations they may be facing.
The ACU Mission is born out of the fact that, in every one of us, is a desperate cry not only to be heard but to be freed from the hell that has become the integral part of most people’s daily existence. We act subconsciously without knowing that the ghosts of childhood are still on the steering wheels of our lives. The ghosts drive us to wherever they decide; they dictate which direction to take – sometimes even in the opposite direction from where we ought to be. Invariably, ghost-drivers lead their victims to destruction.
Positive psychologists support the fact that there is a correlation between the spiritual vibrancy and positive individual well-being. Yet, even the spiritual life is a practical life that is not dependant on how much one knows but on how much one understands.
But faith and knowledge can only thrive in an atmosphere imbued with love. So love is central. God is the authority to which submission is due. Without submission to God for His intervention in our lives, no one should expect to subdue lack and limitations. Faith in God transforms the brink-of-precipice-situation into one of being on the brink of redemption. Faith in God effects the awesome transition from despair, disillusionment to hope. Faith in God replaces agony, trauma with joy. Under the swirling gusts that ensue, all pages of knowledge flip open with revelations that quench anguish and gnawing anxiety!
It is in adulthood that the impact of ACU would be most felt. For one cannot fully understand the impact created by negative childhood experiences until careful behavioural observations are made about adults whose dispositions are wanting. It is generally agreed in various research findings that, incidences of anxiety and other psychological ailments, can be traced to traumatizing childhood experiences. Dysfunctional families account for almost all the casualties.
For it is in such dysfunctional families where children are scolded and humiliated the most…yet their underdeveloped minds drive them into anxieties as they attempt to figure out what happened so as to avoid experiencing similar situations. The anxiety to remain on the right side of parental wrath perennially puts them in very awkward situations. In a bid to rightly anticipate what might happen, and in the process make desperate attempts to avoid the same in future, they find themselves permanently on the defensive. And this is then carried into adulthood.
It is all deeply planted in the soul. The concept of soul-searching is deeply complex a matter to demystify. One of the greatest psychologists called Lacan once described the soul as “something alien to the mundane” but “empowers us to bear what is intolerable and lacking in human world.” Psychological hell is unbearable. Like the real hell, it takes us to horrifying places; places where the love for self and others can easily be defiled.
