Scars & Compassion

My sister wrote a post on Facebook today about her hands and she posted a photo of her hands.  She mentioned a scar that she has and how she got it from a calf bite.  I looked at my own hand and I have a crescent shaped scar on the knuckle just below my pointer finger.  I was washing a glass in 1980 when I lived in Colorado and it broke.  Created quite a nasty cut on my hand and I remember wearing a huge bandage for a couple of weeks to protect the wound and protect my customers (I was a waitress) from seeing the wound. 

It got me thinking about scars on our bodies.  Isn't it ironic that I can remember the incident that lead to the scar on my hand?  I have scars on each knee from some nasty scrapes and I can tell you where and how those happened too.  All these incidences were a minuscule amount of time in my lifeline, yet I can remember them exactly, even the one that occurred almost 60 years ago.  

I wonder why do we remember these scars?  Scarring is a natural part of the healing process.  Scars, of course are a physical, visible reminder to us of the wounds we have endured.  Physically, we have healed and moved on with our lives.  

Something that is more difficult to see are the emotional or mental scars.  So often these types of wounds are not a one-time incidence, but possibly years of being cut, torn apart, or abused. These wounds may take years to recover from and heal.  They leave scars on our souls and our spirit.  Just like our visible, physical scars, we may not think about them until sometime, these scars can feel like they have been ripped open again as we react to something that is said or done to us.  Then we must start the process of healing again.  

Of course the healing process is different for each of us.  Some wounds require the professional help of a doctor, therapist and/or medication.  All wounds require the help of the Master Healer, God.  Time heals all wounds.  For some people with wounds, their end of time (death) will be the healer.  For others, it may take weeks or years.  

We never know what type of wounds and scars the people we meet have endured.  Their actions and behaviors may show us, and maybe not.  Compassion for all is important. Compassion motivates people to go out of their way to help the physical, spiritual, or emotional hurts and pains of another.  



In typical "Rambling Rayna" fashion, I have gone from writing about scars to writing about compassion.  Our physical and emotional wounds all require compassion.  Whether it's a mother picking the gravel out of your knee or you cry tears of pain as you bandage your own cut.  Compassion heals!