Scars can heal.

I’m told that if you travel to Elmira and stand at the main downtown intersection you will see a line on a limestone building (up about 15 feet) that marks the level the floodwater reached in the flood of 1972. All you need do to remember that terrible event is look up on the side of that building.

Scars. They serve as reminders of events long past. I had a broken front tooth served up by my sister swinging a bucket of water (sorry Patty!). We all have physical reminders of bumps, scrapes, and collisions. (Mothers have reminders of their pregnancies.) They don’t hurt any- more but they bring the event back to memory.

You know where I’m going with this right? Yes, there are emotional scars too. Sometimes a place or picture or person can bring back an event that we can still feel. (A couple of swimming episodes in my youth still cause anxiety whenever I’m in water over my head). There are, of course, “good scars”, unforgettable moments of joy or peace. We’ll talk about those next week.

Some of those emotional scars go deep into the psyche and subconscious mind. They create vague, hard to explain motives for our reactions to things. Counselors, psychologists, and spiritual directors help us locate “our issues”. Things like: authority, intimacy, commitment, trust, addictions, can all be affected by emotional scars.

So what are we to do with these “visitors from the past”? Wise spiritual counsel says to be aware of them. “Know your demons”. Facing these things honestly, sometimes with the help of trained professionals, can keep them from immobilizing us.

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Christian Faith assures us that we are not “defined” by our scars. In other words, what we are is given to us by God and will never be taken away. Our ultimate purpose as Children of God is to receive the love of God (eternal life) and to know and love God in return.

There is no scar, no fear, no devil that can rob us of this dignity. Parents, you especially understand this in your love for your children. Wherever they may be . . . at home, at work, in hospital, in jail, wherever . . . they are always your child. Even in hell (God forbid) I would be God’s son.

So what does this mean for scarred, addicted, fearful humanity? It means that NOTHING can change what God wants for me as his child. In fact our very wounds can become the thing that God uses to show us His love. (I’ve heard people tell me their sickness/addiction is the very thing God used to touch their hearts.)

St. Paul says it beautifully (I quote at length): “We know that all things (even our scars) work for the good for those who love God and who are called according to his purpose. . . . If God is for us, who can be against us? What will separate us from the love of Christ? Anguish?, Distress?, Persecution?, Peril?”

“No! In all these things we conquer through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things (scars!), nor future things, . . . nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8: 28-39.

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So what does this mean when my demon memories come calling? It means I don’t have to run and hide. It means I have that scar; no denying it. It means I am more than what has afflicted me. But what has scarred me can, by God’s grace, help others to bear theirs.

“Peace be with you.” Jesus said. “Then he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced.” Luke 24:40.

Love bears all things. Love never fails.

Fr. Tim