Scars can be painful, what I mean to say is that scars can ultimately be full of pain, even after the incident occurs.
Scars don’t solve, they usually are prone to bring more questions to the surface. Scars don’t resolve, they often offer more confusion, and the questions begin to follow.
Why me?
Why not him or her, or them?
Or even why, just why?
What often happens is that a scar or event can become part of our physical, spiritual or emotional makeup. We let this tragic event in so much that it becomes part of us. That ugly event, that moment of hurt is now a part of you.
I met Mike in late 2005; he was a youth pastor and spiritual father to hundreds of youth and young adults. I admired Mike, he had a way with teens and young adults that I’ve only seen a few times in my life, Mike had a rare gift.
About 6 months after meeting Mike he decided to take the biggest step of his life and walk down the aisle with his partner Tom. Mike was publicly fired from his position in his church of 20 years, harassed and threatened by parents of the teens he mentored.
Mike had just received a series of scars that would wound him deeper than any physical cut could.
The last time I talked to Mike he had separated himself from church and helping teens altogether. The world lost a big help and hurt a big heart the day Mike was fired.
Mike isn’t alone; we all face our own scars every day. But what if scars are not as ugly as the events that caused them?
I love the phrase, “light of the world.” I do however think it is a little lost on this society. The light of the world isn’t a lamp or light. (Matt 5:14)
What is it that lights up the world? Stars. Stars light up the natural sky and the world around us. Stars would have been the light of the world.
Stars are made from gaseous explosions and collisions of elements. What we are looking at are bruises of the universe. We are gazing at the travail of the worlds around us.
Let me put it this way, stars are the scars of the universe.
A star is the result of something that couldn’t make it, couldn’t contain itself so it combusted; stars are the wounds of the worlds.
Just as these stars that surround us I bet you have some scars, some physical, some spiritual, some mental and some emotional.
My arms are filled with visual reminders of the physical pain I inflicted on myself in my teen years, over 15 years later they are still there for the world to see. I used to cover my arms, I used to be ashamed but now I have a beautiful story of triumph and overcoming to tell. My scars contribute to my beauty.
You and the wounds you carry are very much like those stars we stare at, I would challenge you to think twice about the way you look at your own scars. There can indeed be beauty in devastation.
We don’t look at the stars in the universe and say how tragic they are, how bruised they are, even though that is what they are. We look at them and speak of the beauty they contain. The inspiration they give us.
Even though stars are the scars of the universe we don’t see them as these broken pieces of gaseous matter, we see them as these majestic astrological blessings that give hope to billions.
What if you saw yourself in that same light, or better yet what if you saw others in a similar way; beautiful despite…? Or as Jesus calls each one of us to shine, inspire and offer light, despite….
-Adapted from Ricky Maye’s new book, Barefoot Christianity.
Manna and Coffee 