July 29, 2025

Hi Friends,

Do you have any scars on your body?

I don’t know if it’s still the case, but it used to be that, when completing a passport application, one needed to catalogue any “visible identifying scars’ on one’s body. The first time I completed an application, I did a full physical inventory, using a hand mirror in combination with a bathroom mirror, just to make sure I was thorough. All these years later, that inventory would take me a lot longer to complete. My life, and at least some of the lessons I've learned are documented by scars on my body.

A two-inch white line on my left forearm will always remind me of laying the foundation for my new garage when, on a hot day, I tangled with a protruding length of re-bar and lost. Scattered white patches and slight indentations on both my shins bear witness to years of playing floor hockey without shin guards and with wooden sticks. A horseshoe-shaped line on my left hand at the base of my index finger calls to mind the time I learned that it’s not good to hold a piece of wood that you are chopping too close to where the axe will strike it, especially if the axe is slightly dull and liable to glance off the intended target. A combination of white lines and white dots on my left knee remind me of the four-hour surgery required to repair four ligaments that were torn while playing hockey and a barely visible white line on my left eyebrow is testament to one of only two times I received a facial cut while playing hockey. I could go on but I think you get the point: I have lots of scars and I should probably reconsider whether to play hockey. 

The apostle Paul also talked about his scars, claiming, “From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.” (Gal. 6:17) He bore witness to Jesus in a time when doing so would likely cause you physical harm or danger. Those scars indicated the price he paid for identifying with his suffering Lord.

What kind of scars do you bear because of your attempts to bear witness to Jesus? In our day, the scars may not be physically visible but they’re still there. Have you ever lost a friend over your commitment to Christ? Have you had to bear any insults to your intelligence or mental capacity because you choose to acknowledge a living Lord? Or, perhaps, your scars are more of the shameful variety (we all have these, by the way), caused by your failure to bear witness when an opportunity presented itself or by a failure to act like Jesus when you came across someone in need.

Scars carry memories of real events. When those memories, painful as they may be, serve as a means of gaining wisdom, confidence or a new perspective, those scars become something beautiful. The best of us do little more than stumble toward maturity, falling down often. Those falls, whatever form they take, scar us but they also teach us. It’s not a bad thing to have scars because you’ve made an effort to bear witness to Jesus. He, himself, used his scars to challenge the doubt of his disciple. May God give us many more scars and the faith to earn them the right way — by being witnesses to the arrival of God’s kingdom.

Blessings!

Doug