Rape

I'm really stunned. I'm stunned at the number of women in America who secretly claim to have had a man attempt to rape them or actually rape them. I haven't done any official number gathering, I haven't looked at any polls, nor have I studied the lastest rape statistics. I have only talked to a few friends and remembered old friends who had strength enough to reveal their secret to me. When I hear their words I think of all my male friends. I do not know of one who would ever rape a woman or allow the thought to flutter in their minds. Sometimes I wonder if these women really have been raped, or if they understand what the word Rape really means. I know all likely do, and I do not dis-credit any of their accounts. I am just brought to my knee's. I think of all the times that I have given into sins of lust, or have treated the body of a woman like an object. How I have saught after that which is not mine to have. I can't take back the images I've stolen, nor the thoughts I've had, and I cannot stop all the rape that happen or have happened in this world. I can only say I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that any Man would stoop to such a level as to forcefully take what they do not own. I know this doesn't stop the hurt, or fix the problems, but its all I can do. I pray deeply that any woman who has been effected by rape be comforted and strengthened. I pray that all Women be offered protection by God and find rest in him. Finally I pray that all men be strengthened and made righteous by God, and that they conqouer the sins of lust in their lives. I pray that all men finally treat women with respect and honor, and as the beautiful creatures they have been created to be. All this I pray not just for me, or those effected but all mankind, that we may finally live in the Kingdom of God, as the people we were created to be, here and now, and unto ages of ages. Amen.