From Scratches, Too, Come Scars

I have wounds, major and minor, which have healed to beautiful scars. They are a road map to my life.

Every slice, from the shallowest paper cut to the deep lines left by surgery, is a stroke of the Maker’s chisel; the Healer’s paintbrush. Of course, they hurt to different degrees when received.

But all leave the same white lines.

Consider my experience:

• In the past twenty or so years, we’ve had six kitties with sharp needles for claws. We also added a dog. So here’s a typical scenario: cat startles dog, dog scares cat, cat digs into whatever he’s on for maximum escape velocity. Usually it’s me.
• Mishaps with knives and other sharp things, accidental or not: from reflexively trying to catch a dropped kitchen slicer to intentional slashes (I once used my finger to test a razor blade I’d found.)
• Invasive incisions from the inch-long fistula site (a joining of a vein and artery to improve blood flow for dialysis) to a foot-and-a-half cracked-open chest.

I like to think I bore the big ones well. I pray they’ll remain once-in-a-lifetime events. The little nicks seem an almost daily occurrence, and they can cause the most noticeable, lasting pain.

(I think it’s more the annoyance than anything else. The location of a pinprick can be most inconvenient.)

Naturally, I find physical injuries analogous to emotional offenses.

And when I’m feeling particularly sore over some lingering snub, I look at my marks and am reminded:

• that I am healed (healable?), from even the most severe damage. (James 5:15)
• life will have troubles of all sizes (John 16:33)
• God’s grace will find us whenever we need it (Hebrews 4:16)
• to treat others as I would have them treat me (Luke 6:31)

He comforts us in all our trouble so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.
2 Corinthians 1:4