We All Hide Our Scars

We all hide or wear our scars a little differently than the next person, don’t we?

We all have scars. Old wounds healed over (not necessarily healed) but patched over, the body created a new covering or new skin over a wound. This new skin is usually different than the rest of our skin. Blotchy, lighter, raised, rough or bumpy, it is a visible reminder of our wound. We were created with this precious gift, our bodies attempt to heal ourselves.

I can show you several actual scars on my body, some from wounds, some from surgeries. I also have scars from old emotional wounds and some scars in my spirit as well.

Those scars prove we lived, we fought and because we are still breathing, we won. Yet we try to hide our scars, long sleeves instead of short, turtlenecks to hide chest scars, not wearing shorts for leg scars. Fully clothed at the beach instead of swim wear. Scars can be disturbing to us. We may not like the look of scars, ours or someone else’s.

Scar definition is :

A scar is a permanent mark left on the body after a wound, burn, or injury has healed.

But it can also mean:

• Emotional Trauma: A lasting psychological pain or after effect left by a bad experience.

  
  

• Nature and Geography: A steep cliff, a bare mountainside, or a protruding rock in the sea.

  
  

• Botany: A small mark on a plant stem where a leaf or fruit used to be attached.

It seems all of nature bears scars of some kind. They are common, they are universal and they are shared by most of creation.

So why do we try so hard to hide them?

Could it be because scars remind us of pain? Of a battle? Or maybe they remind us that life is hard. It goes against our desire to float along on a bed of ease.

We may even go to the thoughts that we should not have had to battle or fight in the first place, the why's.

1963, Lévi-Strauss, yes the jean guy, described the body as a surface waiting for the imprintation of culture.

In many cultures “scarification” was practiced until the outside world criminalized it and forbade it. Aboriginal people in Australia, New Zealand, Africa and many others countries practiced scarification for centuries.

Scarification means scratching, etching, burning or branding, cutting designs even words into the skin. It took 6-9 months or longer for the scarification practices to heal on their bodies. To become permanent and healed. Why and what was the purpose?

To these cultures it was a “rite of passage “. In other words scars in some cultures showed who a person was, what they had been through and were a badge of honor. These marks could tell your language and group you belonged to. They signified bravery and age, in fact these types of markings showed your lifes story.

So who said we should hide our scars?

Scars are the indelible footprint of living. They help tell the paths we have been on, the trials we have been through and the price we have paid.

Interesting that in todays culture we try to hide our scars and yet for billions of people on the globe we are waiting for a Savior to come back to earth to show us His scars.

I find that something to think about….