Fr. Haralambos Papadopoulos: The therapist, the artist and the saint

When traumas turn into miracles, let go of what you are today for what you can become tomorrow.

I have never heard of or seen an artist without wounds, a therapist without traumas, or a saint without a cross.

I think God is hidden here - in our traumas. Because it is a miracle that such powerless beings as we humans are, with so many failures, losses, wounds and passions, can remodel the material from which we are made. What power is in us that allows us to turn darkness into light? God Himself. He is the One Who works in us, turning darkness into light and what is perishable into what is eternal.

One of the many elements that prove that God is in us, that we carry deep within our existence the traces of His footsteps in the Garden of Eden, is the power of turning darkness into light. Some people manage more than others to allow change to happen in their lives. Some psychological universes are more traumatized and more wounded than others. Not all people start on their life journey with the same inner resources. Some have a better genetic inheritance or better parents. The environment they grew up in or their education influenced them more positively. And yet, God brings His testimony to everyone’s life. He gives everyone occasions and chances of healing in many different ways.

Maybe there is no need for another argument about the existence of God other than people who changed their lives - which had the smell of Hades - into Heaven through God's grace. If someone asks you for proof of God's existence, show him people who raised themselves above their wounds and didn't let the "why?"s run their lives.

When traumas turn into miracles, let go of what you are today for what you can become tomorrow.

Fr. Haralambos Papadopoulos

From a Romanian translation of the Greek original by Protopresbyter Gabriel Mandrila, Sophia Press, Bucharest, 2023.