I just want you to know that I am reading The Seventh Door, and I find the relationship between Matt and Darcy to be particularly insightful into my relationship with my own sister.
My (much older) half sister was very abusive and violent when I was young. As a result, I have always been apprehensive around members of the opposite sex, and I have been (successfully) getting through various mental illnesses. And, needless to say, I am still uncomfortable around my sister, even though I now outweigh her by about a hundred pounds. Even though she has been making some minor progress over the years, (For example, instead of outright stealing from me, she just doesn’t pay me back any of the money she borrows) I still trust her about as far as I could throw a truck.
Anyway, reading about Matt’s struggle with how to act around/treat Darcy has been making me really think about my own relationship with my sister, and how she has affected me. More specifically, the book has given me a different angle on how to deal with my own inner demons. In the past, I’ve found ways to drown them out, and to drown my sister out. It was a way to survive. (Though now, as an adult, instead of hiding in a corner, I abused prescription antidepressants. But that’s another story…)
This book isn’t just another great read for me. This book (along with many other things and people of course) is helping me move past being that scared little boy hiding from a knife wielding homicidal sibling, towards being a man who can overcome old fears and finally let some of those deep psychological and spiritual wounds heal.
Thank you.