“They Got What They Deserve!”

A friend of mine from SAA told me the other day a very disheartening thing. He had been talking to a tenant in his building about another tenant who had suddenly passed away that also just so happened to have been a convicted sex offender. When he told me this other tenant he had been speaking to said “They got what they deserve!”, it really broke my heart.

Sadly, I’m sure many others out there in the world would probably agree with this negative comment. I don’t though because I believe all people are worthy and deserving of forgiveness. In all honesty, it truly does bother me when I hear things like this. I do my very best to operate off of the same principles that Jesus did when he was alive. After all, wasn’t he the one who forgave Mary Magdalene for being a prostitute and told her to go and sin no more, which indeed she never did. And from what my friend told me, the tenant who passed away never did either. In fact, he had been known to be quite generous and giving of his time in the building he lived in, always trying to reach out and help others. Yet, unfortunately, he never could quite shake that stigmata of being a convicted sex offender, as it continued to taint the views of him by others such as from this tenant.

Look, I was molested myself as a 12-year-old, but I also did the work to forgive the one who molested me when I got older. Whether he went on to do the same behaviors to anyone else or not I can’t say. What I can say though is that I freed myself from feeling or saying those disparaging comments like what this tenant had said.

In the SAA program, I’ve met many who are convicted offenders, some for the slightest of thing, and others for some pretty serious acts. Regardless of their offenses though, I’ve always treated them with unconditional love, forgiveness, and peace because if I didn’t, I’d be going against the spiritual teachings I’ve been learning these past few years of my life.

I absolutely want to do my very best to live as Jesus did, to love as Jesus did, and to forgive as Jesus did. But I must say it takes a lot to do that. It took me looking into my past and releasing all resentments, all anger, and all hate. And it took me learning to practice doing that on a daily basis in the present as well because things happen all the time around me that can really challenge this.

The bottom line though is that I believe deep down in every single human being on this planet is a piece of God. So why shouldn’t everyone then be worthy and deserving of unconditional love and forgiveness, including those that are convicted sex offenders? Maybe if we gave them all a lot more of that, there might be a lot less repeat offenders and negative energy floating around towards them…

Peace, love light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson

“Miracles From Heaven”, A Tear-Filled Movie For The Soul

Have you ever watched a movie that touches you so much it moves you to tears simply because it resonates with something you’ve either gone through or are still going through? “Miracles From Heaven” is an example of one that did that very thing for me when I saw it in the theater about a week ago.

The film is based on the true story of 10-year old Anna Beam (Kylie Rogers) who lives with a rare, incurable disorder that renders her unable to digest food. But despite the grave situation of Anna’s illness, her devoted mother Christy (Jennifer Garner) relentlessly searches for a way to save her daughter’s life. Unfortunately, she only seems to encounter one disappointment after another along with an ever-increasing amount of bills. As Anna’s hope slowly dwindles away and her health continues to deteriorate, so does Christy’s faith in God. Yet it is God who has the final say because one day a very sick and tired Anna decides to climb her favorite tree one last time and ends up falling some thirty feet, landing on her head. When she awakes later in the hospital, she begins to show signs of recovery from her fatal condition and has an inspiring message for her family about her condition that she says comes from God.

“Miracles From Heaven” is definitely a faith-based film as you can tell and it comes as a time when I most needed it. I love going to see movies like this because they move my soul, especially when it’s during a period of my life that has been filled with so much despair. Given the difficult journey I’ve been on with my own health, all my pains, and my suffering, I related greatly to Anna’s struggles. Probably the closest moment I felt to her pain was when she told her mother she was ready to die and go home. I’ve been in that spot so often in the past year of my life, and I’ve seen my faith in God waver a lot as well. Yet, “Miracles From Heaven” showed me that there’s always hope, not only because of Anna’s miracle, but also because of all the people along the way that God used to make that miracle happen.

So if you’ve ever struggled with something for a long period of time or are currently going through a great struggle in life, I encourage you to watch this movie. It will inspire, uplift, and move you to tears, all the while reminding you that there is a Power out there greater than ourselves, who does still perform miracles. I truly needed to see this movie as it gave me enough hope to not lose my faith and to keep trusting in God for another day…

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson