Last night, these words popped up on my horizon after a notably different day as I closed my eyes. “Hey, look at me!” They seemed to be calling, and I filed it away and promised to think about it with a fresh mind. Tomorrow. Wounds. Scabs. Scars. Somewhere within these words are a litany of other thoughts that want to be considered. How did I get wounded? Who treated my wounds? Did it scab over during healing? What was my treatment plan?
It’s my world that a single thought opens up a plethora of calorie-burning mind calisthenics.
When I think about wounds, I think about physical, emotional, and back-stabbing actions. Jesus was sold, yes sold, for just 30 pieces of silver, and Judas received the reward. “Et Tu, Brutus?” says Julias Caesar at the moment of his assassination. Who’s that dirty coward who shot Mr. Howard, as the ballad goes, who shot and killed Jesse James.
We don’t survive from all wounds. But the ones we walk away from can take a lifetime to recover from.
Scabs. That protective shell keeps ongoing germs and infections from settling in and allows tender tissues to grow. Eventually, it falls off, or we keep scratching at it and worrying about the wound that who knows what the result will be.
Something is happening within me that I’ve got scabs weeks old from wounds received from my over-anxious and loving dogs. Scratches that scab up and take time to go away.
Don’t we all have scars? Those leftover reminders of damage done by circumstance, accident, or an intentional act. Reminders. Diseases can leave scars—unmanaged wounds. Even surgical scars remain though the problem has been repaired. I often notice the scar on my wrist bone and remember the night I hit a pothole while returning home from the D&L Grocery store, bringing mom and coke and a candy bar for her headache. Right, Mom? Headache? Dark night. No street lights. I knew the pothole was there. Only I moved into instead of out of its path.
Then I paused, eyes closed, and this thought burbled and bubbled to the surface.
Have I wounded anyone? Was the scab painful to deal with? Did their scars heal?
It Goes Both Ways
I’m a formidable personality, or is my psyche speaking from a Texan attitude? I admit I have been the recipient and perpetrator of wounds. I picked at the scabs and took notice of the scars.
This is a deep thought, and I promise not to dive deeply.
What if others are not as tough as me? I can fight back or be the bigger person and ignore the gnat that pesters my space. I can internalize and heal at my speed, but not everyone has that personal strength.
Maybe that’s why we should all be Gentle Giants. Weigh your response by considering others before speaking or striking. Hold your response on a scale and let justice and peace be the balance you are looking for, considering our fellow humans before we do damage from which it is difficult to recover.
Jesus spoke irreparable justice in a teaching session about the temptation of sin.
“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.
Mark 9:42 NKJV (Matthew 18:6, Luke 17:2)
These three verses essentially translate the same word in three different ways. Here, Mark uses “stumble,” Matthew says “sin,” while Luke says “offend.” The original Greek language for all three comes from a single word:
σκανδαλίζω Spoken as: skandalizō Transliteration: skan-dal-id’-zo
Meaning: To “scandalize”; to entrap, that is, trip up (figuratively stumble [transitively] or entice to sin, apostasy or displeasure): – (make to) offend.
Regardless of the English translation, the original word says it all. Scandalize. Such punishment is not lightly considered.
What Do We Do
Maybe we should consider how we treat our kids better. Perhaps we should consider how we treat each other better? Would this be a better time if we would consider others before we snap and wound them?
It has been said, ‘time heals all wounds.’
I do not agree. The wounds remain.
In time, the mind, protecting its sanity,
covers them with scar tissue
and the pain lessens.
But it is never gone.
~Rose Kennedy
Think about it. Wounds remain. Scabs fade with time, but a scar is a reminder that causes us to remember. There’s a scar, but that’s no reason to think the wound is healed.
Wounds, Scabs, and Scars: Think about it. Wounds remain. Scabs fade with time, but a scar is a reminder that causes us to remember. There's a scar, but that's no reason to think the wound is healed. Share on XMaybe, then, that becomes our mission. To stand up to that which gave us scars, helping others recover from similar wounds. Our focus becomes on assisting others in dealing with what they’ve experienced. If you’ve been there, you understand better than someone who has no clue.
In the medical world, it’s called Triage: When someone is dealing with a problem, you don’t ask them about other immediate non-essentials. You deal with what is hurting the most. What needs to be addressed first? Look at the order of severity. Treat the primary need, and allow there will be time to get to the other issues as healing happens.
What am I saying? Wounds. Scabs. Scars. We have all experienced them. Let’s be more cautious about how we treat others. We’ve been there, too.