Wondering, Wandering, and Writing

Time heals all wounds.
Eh.
Sorta.
Kinda.
No, not really.
Well, maybe.

Healing can be a subjective thing, especially when you think of a lot of kinds of wounds.

Many scratches and cuts leave barely a trace of the injury.  A little scratch left uncleaned can turn into a mess and a forever-lasting scar. Surgery cuts leave anything from no trace to a lumpy, bumpy eyesore. Then there’s internal cuts and tears and repairs.  One neat little scar shows on the surface, meanwhile a mess of scar tissue causes havoc on the inside.  Burn scars are treated in a variety of ways to make them look better and feel better and that area of the body to function better.  Without special garments, physical therapy, and massage, burn scars can greatly inhibit physical movement.  The emotional pain caused by the scarring creates a different set of limitations on daily functioning.

I suppose it’s the invisible scars that are the easiest for others to forget and the hardest for us to deal with.  Heck, it’s human nature – out of sight, out of mind.  We all do it to some degree.

But that saying about time.  Does it heal all wounds?  No, it doesn’t.  Does the scarring change over time?  Oh, yes.  Just like a physical scar on a leg or arm or stomach or face changes as the skin is replaced year after year, so are our emotional scars changing. 

I’ve heard it said that trials in life can make you better or make you bitter.

Perhaps, it takes a bit of bitter before it gets better.

The Holiday Season is upon us.  Our family and church gather for fall events, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  ‘tis the official brownie – baking season. The season holds a lot of mixed-up emotions for me.  Wonderful, cherished memories! So many happy memories a book could hardly hold them all.  Heartbreaking memories of loss and struggle. Not as many of these (thankfully!) but they are so very deep.  So, every year I live with this bubbling cauldron of emotions.  Some days I have no idea which will erupt in the bubbles bursting forth.

You know what?  I bet most of us deal with this.  We want to be happy and celebrate all the good things happening around us – even if we have to search hard to find that one happy thing.  We want to rejoice in the goodness of God.  And right smack in the middle of all that desire for joy, bubbles of grief and angst and dread burst into our celebrations.  I pray we all grieve well.  I pray we are able to let the tears flow when necessary, to let a frown rest upon our lips for a while.  I also pray we laugh!  There’s usually something around to laugh at – if only we open our eyes to see it.   

Thank you for reading and sharing some melancholy moments.

Hug those you love.

Hopefully soon I’ll write something a little more upbeat.

#bgwww23