Ground Hog Day WAW #18

[hoosiermama]

Of course you're right. I've given a lot of thought to why I keep trying. And while it doesn't necessarily feel good to keep banging our heads against the wall, I keep trying because--
I just have this lingering fear about a disaster looming in the future for this family if things continue as they have been; I have serious concerns about the children because they are exposed to all the behavior that we all have tried so hard to shield our own kids from and which all the professionals tell us causes permanent damage; there's probably more hope in this situation than in the vast majority of others, and with a breakthrough in insight it could so turn around; when Catholicism is witnessed in such a judgemental and weapon-like manner it has a way of making us all look like Pharisees, when in fact it's far more about love than condemnation, more about broad understanding than isolated facts.

Every now and then we get a flash of something better, a hint of grace, a brief window opening on something like a sense of humor; in psych class I learned this is called intermittent reinforcement, and it really hooks us to try to eliciting that response.