This text was written and published on Facebook 7 years ago
Kim’s Story
Healing is an all around process
a circular path in our own journey
and that’s what Kim Phuc
came to share with us.
I new her from her picture,
she is the little girl
who is running after being burned
by a napalm bomb
dropped on her village
during the Vietnam war.
She was 9 then – I was 13
she’s in her forties now – I am 50
and in between
she has made a whole circle
from that moment
to this one
to be able to share
what she have to share
with so much grace
so much kindness
so much love
but to do so
she had to go through
a lot…
a lot…
she had to revisit
the anger, the suffering
the confusion, the sadness
that those events had
created within and around her
but why?
who wants that?
who wants to relive
such an horrible story?
the reason is simple
she says
because of the pain
the physical pain
that she still experiences
and the emotional pain
which was darkening her heart
so for her own sake
and for the sake of her children
she realized that
she had to go back
to face her own story
because even if the doctors
had saved her life
she was not living
she was too full
of hatred, bitterness
she had to do something
if she wanted to unlock herself
so she decided to reverse
the faith that made her a victim
she decided to own that picture of her
and everything that was going with it
first by healing her own heart
and then by sharing what she had learned
and she had learned a lot…
a lot…
by living in a country in war
she has learned the value of peace
by having lived under government control
she has learned the value of freedom
she also learned the power of love
because if she really wanted to heal
she understood that she had
to forgive her enemies
not forget, but forgive
and to be able to do so
she learned to pray
to get in touch with the Essence of LOVE
the Essence of compassion
she started to pray
on a daily basis for them
naming each and everyone of them
again, and again, and again
until her heart softened
and through that experience
she began appreciating
her own life
what she had
realizing all the blessing
she had received
she was alive…
a true miracle
since she could have been killed
as many others were on that occasion
but she was alive…
and yes she is
she is amazingly alive
in fact, looking at her
you realize that she glows
and now, with this life of her own
she is strolling the globe
sharing her story
sharing her heart
for our own deeper consciousness
calling upon us
to get together
to create lasting peace
where ever we are
by learning to forgive
and to love one another
by spreading kindness
because she truly believes that
with love and determination
we can built a peaceful future
for us, for our children
with compassion
we can heal the whole world
after listening to her
being in her deeply inspiring presence
I was wondering :
why not create my own circles
for my own healing
for the healing of my family
my neighborhood, my culture, the planet?
why not forgive
and start loving
until my heart softened?
yes, why not?
because truly
I can’t find any reason
and on the contrary
there is a thousand one
to do so
at least, a thousand one…
and one of them would be
the opening of my own heart
the end of my own wars
the healing of my own wounds
so I could finally experience
grace, love, kindness
within and without…
Kim Puch
34th annual SSF-IIIHS International Conference
June 26, 2009, Montreal
mari.e cornellier 