Count the Scars, Tell Your Story

My little Gilly loves band-aids.   I think she views them somewhat as stickers--especially the kid ones with Sponge Bob and Dora on them.  With them, she shows off her "owies" and tells you how she got each one.   In many ways, it's more than just mere scratches she points to.  She is telling me stories about how life.

Now, unless we have unlimited cash--which we don't, Emily and I could let her go through 3-5 boxes a day.   Left unrestrained, she would do it!  So we try to give her a criteria about band-aid worthy "owies."  Maybe a in a small way, teaching her a little stewardship of resources along the way--not a bad lesson.   However today, I am having second thoughts.

On a monthly basis, Pastors of our conference--called Blue Earth River--meet for fellowship, communion and mutual encouragement.  Many of these gathering are okay and not necessarily something to write home (or blog) about.  Today, for me, it was different.  My neighboring colleague  Pastor Mark hosted and preached today about the scars on Jesus' Body in the encounter with doubting Thomas  (John 20).   Aside from the actual miracle of the resurrection--main point of the story, Mark focused on the scars Jesus and we carry after healing.  They are healed, but the scars are stories of love and pain.

Mark speculated whether we can " just move on" from those scars--they're healed, or whether we need to acknowledge the pain of those wounds each one represents.    Some wounds may not even be visible but emotional or spiritual.  Suffice it to say, I started think about Gilly's wounds and my own.   There have been many cases in my "professional" life as a pastor that I simply ignored the pain and the hurt I have gone through.  I remember in a previous place, someone was concern about my emotional health.  I felt the need--quite wrongly--to just soldier on.  The person said--quite wrongly--that I was showing my ability to be a professional.  Hah!  Quite the opposite.  Now I would say that I was a  horrible example of being a follower.  Jesus' scars showed through his resurrected glory.  Maybe ours need to also?

So I take this time to repent to my little 6 year old.  I will listen to her stories about hurt and pain.  I will bandage her "owies" no matter how unimportant they seem to me.  And yes, maybe budget for some extra band-aid boxes for as long as she needs them.  Scars may be healed, but they are important to Gilly, myself and Jesus.  In sharing our stories, maybe we can bandage our woulds and rise to Easter glory.

Pastor Matt