WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU, TODAY, LORD?
Lord, day after day,
you tirelessly hear and answer my prayers.
Today, I humbly bow before you, asking,
"What can I do for you today?"
Is there some poor soul
who needs to be clothed?
Surely, Lord, there is someone
who is hungry and needs to be fed.
There must be someone in prison
that needs to be visited.
Does some individual
need to be encouraged?
Lord, I know that somewhere,
someone is thinking of ending their life,
show me where they are, Lord,
so that I, through you, can rescue them.
Some child, some mother,
some father, some widow -
someone needs a special touch
from your righteous and loving hand.
Let me be the voice
that whispers in the darkness,
“I am with you always,
even until the end of the world.”
Lord, let me be your eyes,
show me where that young person is
who is in mortal trouble,
use my feet and my legs
to run swiftly to them.
Let me be the hand
that reaches out to hold
and shelter someone
from the cold and windy world
that strains relentlessly
to destroy our souls.
All too often
I think of what I need
and what I want; use me today, Lord,
to help someone else
who is in more need than I.
Naomi R. Butler Arthur
YOU ARE ALONE NO MORE, YOU’RE A SURVIVOR!!!!, This is a very honest and wonderful piece of artistic work that will help anyone who has been a victim of abuse. The author's writing style and honesty in dealing with the tough subject of her abuse helps and allows the reader to understand their own history of abuse. "A must read for anyone who has been a victim or was subjected to living in an abusive environment"! "POWERFUL and HEALING." J. Brooks
Friday, February 20, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Spread Your Wings and Fly!
SPREAD YOUR WINGS AND FLY
When you struggle every day
do you feel like you’re free falling
without hope?
When there is turmoil everywhere
don’t worry or fret, my child.
Spread your wings and fly.
This ol’ world is full of prejudice and hate.
You seem so all alone!
You’re not, my friend!
The one on high your compass guides,
so, hold your head up high!
Spread your wings and fly.
Arduously, you’ve tried so hard and failed?
Something holds you back and now
Success is inconceivable.
You feel there is no hope?
You hold the power to change your life.
Spread your wings and fly.
They’ll come a brighter day,
if you can only find faith my child.
If you’ll just hold on long enough
to let the mistress have her way.
Don’t torment yourself, don’t cry.
Spread your wings and fly.
Turn your face towards the sky,
look heaven in the eye!
Spread your wings out wide,
soar high above the clouds!
Spread your wings and fly!
When you struggle every day
do you feel like you’re free falling
without hope?
When there is turmoil everywhere
don’t worry or fret, my child.
Spread your wings and fly.
This ol’ world is full of prejudice and hate.
You seem so all alone!
You’re not, my friend!
The one on high your compass guides,
so, hold your head up high!
Spread your wings and fly.
Arduously, you’ve tried so hard and failed?
Something holds you back and now
Success is inconceivable.
You feel there is no hope?
You hold the power to change your life.
Spread your wings and fly.
They’ll come a brighter day,
if you can only find faith my child.
If you’ll just hold on long enough
to let the mistress have her way.
Don’t torment yourself, don’t cry.
Spread your wings and fly.
Turn your face towards the sky,
look heaven in the eye!
Spread your wings out wide,
soar high above the clouds!
Spread your wings and fly!
Where can this book be purchased?
Arising from the Insanity may be purchased directly from the publisher
PublishAmerica.com, or in many book stores around the world. If your local book store does not carry it in stock, they can order it for you, all you need is the ISBN which is 1-60703-160-4.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of any form of abuse, or is in an abusive relationship, this book is a must read book of inspirational poetry offering insight and awareness giving its readers hope of surviving after the emotional soul death caused by abuse.
Please read this book!
PublishAmerica.com, or in many book stores around the world. If your local book store does not carry it in stock, they can order it for you, all you need is the ISBN which is 1-60703-160-4.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of any form of abuse, or is in an abusive relationship, this book is a must read book of inspirational poetry offering insight and awareness giving its readers hope of surviving after the emotional soul death caused by abuse.
Please read this book!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Comments on feature news article
kayew::
I am so grateful that you not only wrote this but got it published. I too wrote a book of poetry while going through a divorce which was extremely abusive and then wrote a book to explain it. I never had it published. I also wrote a book after that to put my own thoughts into words as to one of the plans I had developed after I had gotten away, but never got it published either. I didn't know where to start to get them published. I don't know how to go about it. Perhaps you could email me and let me know as I feel we have so much in common. Thank you. ~~~ Naomi is my sister and I saw much of the abuse that happen when I was younger, even when she was married I can remember her ex husband pulling a knife on her. I am proud that she is opening up. I lived the nightmares for years but never spoke of it.......which made me just as guilty but didn't know how to say anything. I haven't gotten a copy of the book yet but I plan to because it’s important to support her. ~Sam Butler
I am so grateful that you not only wrote this but got it published. I too wrote a book of poetry while going through a divorce which was extremely abusive and then wrote a book to explain it. I never had it published. I also wrote a book after that to put my own thoughts into words as to one of the plans I had developed after I had gotten away, but never got it published either. I didn't know where to start to get them published. I don't know how to go about it. Perhaps you could email me and let me know as I feel we have so much in common. Thank you. ~~~ Naomi is my sister and I saw much of the abuse that happen when I was younger, even when she was married I can remember her ex husband pulling a knife on her. I am proud that she is opening up. I lived the nightmares for years but never spoke of it.......which made me just as guilty but didn't know how to say anything. I haven't gotten a copy of the book yet but I plan to because it’s important to support her. ~Sam Butler
Synopsis of Arising from the Insanity
Because of our vulnerability as children, many of us suffered abuse, either by family members, a friend of the family, or by strangers, and it has always, always had long-lasting effects on the victim. The scars left behind by abuse are constant reminders of our experiences, they will have an impact on our behavior and our relationships for a lifetime to come. Our central thought becomes, “Who can I trust?” “Can I ever trust again?”. Please know that there is hope! There is life after insanity - indeed, there is life after emotional death!
As you read of my experiences through poetry and chart the cognitive processes with me, I pray that you may see the light in the darkest of nights, for you are not alone, my friend. This work is for you - my readers, my acquaintances, my friends and my family. Naomi R. Butler Arthur
As you read of my experiences through poetry and chart the cognitive processes with me, I pray that you may see the light in the darkest of nights, for you are not alone, my friend. This work is for you - my readers, my acquaintances, my friends and my family. Naomi R. Butler Arthur
Bio
"Naomi Ruth Butler Arthur is a woman coming into her own at a later time than most because of the “soul murder” she experienced at a very young age and the factors that kept her prisoner for too many years. Yet, with her indomitable spirit and assistance from God’s many helpers, she has arisen out of the ashes of the insanity in which she grew into adulthood. Her writing charts her journey but barely begins to unearth the depth of it. Perhaps future publications and/or whatever springs from this publication will reveal a fuller bloom.
Her education is minimal but not by choice. Despite not having been given the opportunity to complete high school, she obtained her GED in 1990, when, as a single mother two of her five children had already graduated high school and others were in the process. She has taken college courses, when possible, in areas such as creative writing, human anatomy (out of curiosity about the human body and because of an interest in being a nurse), art, human services, geriatrics, public speaking, and other topics that caught her interest". ~San Rogers
Her education is minimal but not by choice. Despite not having been given the opportunity to complete high school, she obtained her GED in 1990, when, as a single mother two of her five children had already graduated high school and others were in the process. She has taken college courses, when possible, in areas such as creative writing, human anatomy (out of curiosity about the human body and because of an interest in being a nurse), art, human services, geriatrics, public speaking, and other topics that caught her interest". ~San Rogers
A Review of Arising from the Insanity
YOU ARE ALONE NO MORE, YOU’RE A SURVIVOR!!!!,
February 11, 2009
This is a very honest and wonderful piece of artistic work that will help anyone who has been a victim of abuse. The author's writing style and honesty in dealing with the tough subject of her abuse helps and allows the reader to understand their own history of abuse.
"A must read for anyone who has been a victim or was subjected to living in an abusive environment"!
POWERFUL & HEALING
J. Brooks
February 11, 2009
This is a very honest and wonderful piece of artistic work that will help anyone who has been a victim of abuse. The author's writing style and honesty in dealing with the tough subject of her abuse helps and allows the reader to understand their own history of abuse.
"A must read for anyone who has been a victim or was subjected to living in an abusive environment"!
POWERFUL & HEALING
J. Brooks
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Feature News Article
By Allison Stains
The Record Herald
Sat Jan 31, 2009, 07:58 AM EST
Waynesboro, Pa. -
Naomi R. Butler Arthur’s voice is unfaltering as she reads a poem depicting the loss
of her innocence.
Arthur is originally from Baltimore, MD, and has lived in Waynesboro for more than 30 years.
After suffering years of abuse, Arthur penned her experiences and other related entries in a series of poems contained in “Arising from the Insanity: The Written Works of Naomi R. Butler Arthur.”
Innocence lost
“Abuse,” Arthur noted, “comes in a variety of ways: sexual, mental, emotional, physical - I think that I suffered from all of them at one point.”
Arthur has suffered from abuse most of her life, beginning with the physical and sexual abuse she received from her father. He was a minister, she explained, but also had a dark side.
When Arthur was 13, her mother brought a 43-year-old friend and evangelist minister, Frank Arthur, into her life. Naomi Arthur and her sister, who was two years younger, suffered sexual abuse from Frank while he also was having a sexual relationship with their mother.
“She kind of turned me over to him — more than 30 years my senior,” she explained.
At 15, Arthur became pregnant and was married to Frank before having their child. She never finished high school.
“I felt powerless,” she said.
Getting away
The physical abuse didn’t stop with her father or husband.
“I suppose that once the circle of abuse begins, it continues,” she said. “Someone has to break it.”
By the time she was 26, Arthur was the mother of five children — and knew she needed to get out of the marriage. “I had to leave him five times ... as I look back, I can understand why it took so long. I had five children,” Arthur explained. “I was told ‘those children need a father’, that I couldn’t do it alone. I thought I was doing it (staying) for the sake of the kids.”
It took a violent outburst from her husband to motivate Arthur to finally leave.
Arthur said she took her children to her pastor’s house one night after her husband became enraged.
The next day, Arthur returned home with a friend to gather money so she could buy food for the children. She approached the house and made her way to the bedroom to retrieve cash from under the mattress. Frank became violent, hit Arthur with an ax handle and threatened her life. When she and her husband were in court, the judge asked him if he would have reacted the same way if he could do it all over again. Frank said ‘yes,’ finalizing Arthur’s break from the relationship.
“I had to gather all of the guts I had, all of the strength I had to get my kids to safety,” she said.
Arthur moved with her five children to Waynesboro in 1975. In 1990, Arthur attained her GED while raising the children.
Years after leaving her husband, Arthur says she still contends with depression, sadness and regrets elicited from the abuse.
“My kids have been there for me — they’ve been my pot of gold,” she noted.
Her children, Yvette, Joseph, Lora, Rebecca and Kenneth, live in surrounding areas.
Arthur said she has forgiven Frank, who died a number of years ago.
Penned emotions
Arthur began writing about her experiences a little more than 10 years ago as an outlet for her emotions in the healing process.
“Abuse does a lot to people — a lot that they don’t realize,” said Arthur.
Her first poem, “Surviving the Insanity,” details the sequence of abuse, control and freedom and was written while she was watching a documentary about Janis Joplin.
“I felt inspired to write to express some of the pain,” she explained.
The book is divided into nine sections of 65 poems touching on topics such as depression, religion, family and love.
Plans for publishing “Arising from the Insanity” were put into motion in June when a friend from her church asked to see the poems Arthur had told him she had written.
The friend also was an employee at PublishAmerica in Frederick. He took them to work and the company accepted the poems as they were. Arthur did some self-editing and the book was soon published.
Arthur’s biggest hope is that she can help others suffering from abuse.
“No one has the right to control your life — that’s your job. My heart goes out to anybody who feels like they’re trapped.”
She hopes her experiences and the book will be catalysts to help others.
“If I can help one person realize their worth — if I can help someone find the strength and courage to get out of an abusive relationship, then it’s worth it,” she said. “I just want people to know there’s hope.”
More information
“Arising from the Insanity” is available online at Amazon.com.
For more information on the book or Arthur, e-mail her at:
nrarthur@gmail.com
The Record Herald
Sat Jan 31, 2009, 07:58 AM EST
Waynesboro, Pa. -
Naomi R. Butler Arthur’s voice is unfaltering as she reads a poem depicting the loss
of her innocence.
Arthur is originally from Baltimore, MD, and has lived in Waynesboro for more than 30 years.
After suffering years of abuse, Arthur penned her experiences and other related entries in a series of poems contained in “Arising from the Insanity: The Written Works of Naomi R. Butler Arthur.”
Innocence lost
“Abuse,” Arthur noted, “comes in a variety of ways: sexual, mental, emotional, physical - I think that I suffered from all of them at one point.”
Arthur has suffered from abuse most of her life, beginning with the physical and sexual abuse she received from her father. He was a minister, she explained, but also had a dark side.
When Arthur was 13, her mother brought a 43-year-old friend and evangelist minister, Frank Arthur, into her life. Naomi Arthur and her sister, who was two years younger, suffered sexual abuse from Frank while he also was having a sexual relationship with their mother.
“She kind of turned me over to him — more than 30 years my senior,” she explained.
At 15, Arthur became pregnant and was married to Frank before having their child. She never finished high school.
“I felt powerless,” she said.
Getting away
The physical abuse didn’t stop with her father or husband.
“I suppose that once the circle of abuse begins, it continues,” she said. “Someone has to break it.”
By the time she was 26, Arthur was the mother of five children — and knew she needed to get out of the marriage. “I had to leave him five times ... as I look back, I can understand why it took so long. I had five children,” Arthur explained. “I was told ‘those children need a father’, that I couldn’t do it alone. I thought I was doing it (staying) for the sake of the kids.”
It took a violent outburst from her husband to motivate Arthur to finally leave.
Arthur said she took her children to her pastor’s house one night after her husband became enraged.
The next day, Arthur returned home with a friend to gather money so she could buy food for the children. She approached the house and made her way to the bedroom to retrieve cash from under the mattress. Frank became violent, hit Arthur with an ax handle and threatened her life. When she and her husband were in court, the judge asked him if he would have reacted the same way if he could do it all over again. Frank said ‘yes,’ finalizing Arthur’s break from the relationship.
“I had to gather all of the guts I had, all of the strength I had to get my kids to safety,” she said.
Arthur moved with her five children to Waynesboro in 1975. In 1990, Arthur attained her GED while raising the children.
Years after leaving her husband, Arthur says she still contends with depression, sadness and regrets elicited from the abuse.
“My kids have been there for me — they’ve been my pot of gold,” she noted.
Her children, Yvette, Joseph, Lora, Rebecca and Kenneth, live in surrounding areas.
Arthur said she has forgiven Frank, who died a number of years ago.
Penned emotions
Arthur began writing about her experiences a little more than 10 years ago as an outlet for her emotions in the healing process.
“Abuse does a lot to people — a lot that they don’t realize,” said Arthur.
Her first poem, “Surviving the Insanity,” details the sequence of abuse, control and freedom and was written while she was watching a documentary about Janis Joplin.
“I felt inspired to write to express some of the pain,” she explained.
The book is divided into nine sections of 65 poems touching on topics such as depression, religion, family and love.
Plans for publishing “Arising from the Insanity” were put into motion in June when a friend from her church asked to see the poems Arthur had told him she had written.
The friend also was an employee at PublishAmerica in Frederick. He took them to work and the company accepted the poems as they were. Arthur did some self-editing and the book was soon published.
Arthur’s biggest hope is that she can help others suffering from abuse.
“No one has the right to control your life — that’s your job. My heart goes out to anybody who feels like they’re trapped.”
She hopes her experiences and the book will be catalysts to help others.
“If I can help one person realize their worth — if I can help someone find the strength and courage to get out of an abusive relationship, then it’s worth it,” she said. “I just want people to know there’s hope.”
More information
“Arising from the Insanity” is available online at Amazon.com.
For more information on the book or Arthur, e-mail her at:
nrarthur@gmail.com
Press Release
Public Relations
PublishAmerica
shawns@publishamerica.com
http://www.publishamerica.com>
Book Publishing by Publish America
For Immediate Release
Contact: Shawn Street – Public Relations
pr@publishamerica.com
www.publishamerica.com
PublishAmerica Presents Arising from the Insanity by Naomi R. Butler Arthur
Frederick, MD January 9, 2009 -- PublishAmerica is proud to present Arising from the Insanity: The Written Works of Naomi R. Butler Arthur by Naomi R. Butler Arthur.
Because of our vulnerability as children, many of us suffered abuse, either by family members, a friend of the family, or by strangers, and it has always, always had long-lasting effects on the victim. The scars left behind by abuse are constant reminders of our experiences; they will have an impact on our behavior and our relationships for a lifetime to come. Our central thought becomes, “Who can I trust?” “Can I ever trust again?” Please know that there is hope! There is life after insanity - indeed, there is life after emotional death!
“As you read of my experiences through poetry and chart the cognitive processes with me, I pray that you may see the light in the darkest of nights, for you are not alone, my friend,” Arthur said. “This work is for you - my readers, my acquaintances, my friends, and my family.”
Naomi R. Butler Arthur is a woman coming into her own at a later time than most because of her history of abuse. Despite not having been given the opportunity to complete high school, she obtained her GED in 1990 while raising five children as a single mother. She currently resides in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania.
PublishAmerica is the home of 30,000 talented authors. PublishAmerica is a traditional publishing company whose primary goal is to encourage and promote the works of new, previously undiscovered writers. Like more mainstream publishers, PublishAmerica pays its authors advances and royalties, makes its books available in both the United States and Europe through all bookstores, and never charges any fees for its services. PublishAmerica offers a distinctly personal, supportive alternative to vanity presses and less accessible publishers.
END
PublishAmerica
shawns@publishamerica.com
http://www.publishamerica.com>
Book Publishing by Publish America
For Immediate Release
Contact: Shawn Street – Public Relations
www.publishamerica.com
PublishAmerica Presents Arising from the Insanity by Naomi R. Butler Arthur
Frederick, MD January 9, 2009 -- PublishAmerica is proud to present Arising from the Insanity: The Written Works of Naomi R. Butler Arthur by Naomi R. Butler Arthur.
Because of our vulnerability as children, many of us suffered abuse, either by family members, a friend of the family, or by strangers, and it has always, always had long-lasting effects on the victim. The scars left behind by abuse are constant reminders of our experiences; they will have an impact on our behavior and our relationships for a lifetime to come. Our central thought becomes, “Who can I trust?” “Can I ever trust again?” Please know that there is hope! There is life after insanity - indeed, there is life after emotional death!
“As you read of my experiences through poetry and chart the cognitive processes with me, I pray that you may see the light in the darkest of nights, for you are not alone, my friend,” Arthur said. “This work is for you - my readers, my acquaintances, my friends, and my family.”
Naomi R. Butler Arthur is a woman coming into her own at a later time than most because of her history of abuse. Despite not having been given the opportunity to complete high school, she obtained her GED in 1990 while raising five children as a single mother. She currently resides in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania.
PublishAmerica is the home of 30,000 talented authors. PublishAmerica is a traditional publishing company whose primary goal is to encourage and promote the works of new, previously undiscovered writers. Like more mainstream publishers, PublishAmerica pays its authors advances and royalties, makes its books available in both the United States and Europe through all bookstores, and never charges any fees for its services. PublishAmerica offers a distinctly personal, supportive alternative to vanity presses and less accessible publishers.
END
Wow!
Bog for Yahoo 360/MySpace
Wow!!
That's all I can say at this moment that will even begin to, halfway intelligently, express the deep humility that I feel at the publication of my first book: Arising From the Insanity: The Written Works of Naomi R. Butler Arthur!
At the risk of blowing my own horn, I feel the need to express my current thoughts and feelings in this blog. I hope that you will read on.
This morning I received an e-mail from a reporter from the Record Herald, my local newspaper, saying that they had received the press release for my book and asked for an interview for a feature article!
About ten years ago I started writing my first poems. At that time I had no intention of ever having them published. After all, who am I that anyone would be interested enough in reading anything that I wrote that it would be worthy of being put into book form and published?
Writing poetry simply became a way of releasing the pent up pain, grief, disappointments and humiliation over the emotional death I had suffered due to the many forms of abuse that I suffered as a child and into my adult years. Before that time, I had no interest in poetry; I disliked it with a passion. An English professor of mine read a few of my poems and asked me what I was going to do with them. I’ll never forget her words. She said, “I never tell people that their writing is good unless I truly believe it is. I’m telling you now that you have a gift for writing. Now, what are you going to do with it?” She said, “You can’t just write these poems and put them away and forget about them, they have to be published.” Of course, I didn’t really believe her; I thought she was just trying to be nice to encourage me to keep doing better. That was more than ten years ago. I continued to write and dream of the day that I would eventually see them published. I thought that someday after I was gone, my children would pick up the dream that I had and would, maybe, attempt to have them published. I gave up on my dream until this past summer when, Jarvis, a friend of mine from my church who works for a publishing company took them to his company to show. That was about six months ago. I picked up my dream again and compiled my poems into book form and I made the decision to see it to the end. San, my significant other, my daughter-in-law, Therese, my children and my friends have been my biggest supporters and sources of inspiration in seeing this book published. San and Therese have helped me to edit the book. (I still have trouble with punctuation.) Without these angels in my life, who were certainly sent to me from God, I would have never had the courage to tell my ugly story for the public to read.
I did not finish school. I quit school when I was in the 8th grade to get married to a man who was some thirty years my senior because I was pregnant. (He was not the first or the last to take advantage of my naivety.) I was fourteen. I was humiliated beyond belief. I gave birth to my first child, Yvette, when I was fifteen. I did not obtain my GED until after I was into my early forties. I took a several college courses, including Human Services, Art Appreciation, Business Math (yuck! math), and some English courses, including Creative Writing, etc.. However, I was never able to see any of my college courses through because of the aftermath of abuse that ate away at my heart and soul. In case people do not know, abuse, in any form, will rob a person of their self-confidence; abuse steals from its victims the ability to concentrate and remember details, it will destroy almost all of our attempted relationships, in extreme cases it will even cause them to feel so worthless that they will dream of, and hope for, death to the point that they will even attempt to put an end to the pain and the struggle they experience every day of their lives. The list of the effect of soul death goes on and on. I haven’t even begun to tell the story of religious abuse.
Through poetry and other writings, Arising from the Insanity tells the story of this writers struggle with the aftermath of abuse, the effects and the struggle, to revive the spirit within to stay alive and maintain her sanity. But, this book is more than that. It contains letters written to my children and to my “angels” that encourages whoever may read this book to fight with all they have left, to stay alive and to see their personal struggle to the end. We must also realize that mere survival is not enough, we all must find a way to LIVE after we have survived.
I pray that my readers will find inspiration and hope in every page of Arising from the Insanity!
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