“You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the LORD” – Leviticus 19:28, NKJV I never thought of getting a tattoo until I met and fell in love with Roger. We met at a book fair four years ago. We were book lovers… Read More I Love Him
It’s a Saturday afternoon and I’m sitting in my apartment, feeling awful–really down because Bobby’s mother got very upset with me. She wanted nothing more to do with me because I had told her that her son who was like a little brother to me wouldn’t go to Heaven because he had committed suicide. The… Read More The Aftermath
My name is Naomi. Like my namesake, I have been tempted to change my name to Mara which means “bitterness”. I have a lot to be bitter about. All of my life I have been bullied and mistreated due to the color of my skin. I have black skin. I’m the darkest in my family. … Read More Naomi’s Story
Neeha always wore long sleeves even when it was hot and humid outside because she didn’t want anyone, especially her friends to see the ugly cuts on her arms. She wanted to stop cutting herself but she couldn’t seem to. It started when she became pregnant and told her mother who said, “Unless you get… Read More From Self-harm to Self-love
Unlike her friends and almost everyone she knew, she wasn’t plugged into Social Media and had no interest whatsoever of joining her friends and family on Facebook. Befriending people the old fashioned way suited her better. And it was safer to connect to people she could actually see. She didn’t trust anything online—too intrusive and… Read More Anti Social Media
She looked at the odd shaped structure. It was covered in moss. Everything else seemed to fade into the background. It reminded her of when she visited the Accademia Gallery and she saw Michelangelo’s famous sculpture of Israel’s most beloved king, David. Her eyes were fixated on the figure, moving towards it as if hypnotized. The… Read More Giulia
Woman, widow, mother, poor, invisible, substandard. Unloved, neglected, shamed. Blamed for her husband’s death. Alienated by his family. Believed to be cursed. Life for a widow in her society is tough, unsympathetic and unbearable. Suicide seemed to be the only relief and release from the pain but God had other plans. He sent three female… Read More The Widow
For I am the LORD who heals you – Exodus 15:26 I read this story and was so touched by this young woman’s love and compassion for others who were experiencing what she once experienced. When a leprosy patient cried out, “Don’t open my bandage!”, Sakshi revealed her own hands and feet which clearly showed traces… Read More Loving the Unloved
Depression: Let’s talk This month, WHO launched a one-year campaign Depression: let’s talk. The goal of the campaign is that more people with depression, in all countries, seek and get help. Depression is an illness that can happen to anybody. It causes mental anguish and affects people’s ability to carry out everyday tasks, with sometimes devastating consequences for relationships… Read More Depression
More than 50 million people in India suffer from a mental illness. In 2011, India recorded the highest rate of major depression in the world at 36 per cent. According to doctors, roughly 10 per cent of India’s population suffers from depression – MGMH Women with mental illness are treated as less than human.… Read More Mental Health Crisis in India
Notes to Women 