Scar is more than the name of the evil lion in Disney’s “Lion King.” A scar is something that remains on our skin or in our psyche from something painful. Scars are not all equal in visibility or pain.
What scars do you carry around? If those scars could talk, what stories would they share? A childhood fall? Some serious or some routine surgery? The loss of someone or something greatly cherished? A hurtful deed or word done or said to you? Sometimes a person’s life at a given moment is a scar. I think, for example of depression. Depression many times begins after a great loss, either real or imagined.
Some scars may make us chuckle a bit. When asked what that scar on one’s arm is, the response may be “I can’t believe I did that.” Another scar may be a mark of pride: “Oh, that little thing? I got that sliding into home with the winning run.” Some scars are from times when we remember only too clearly how we scarred another.
Scars can serve as a monument to some past or even present pain. They serve as proof that we have lived. We have been both victim and victimizer, we have been heroes and goats, careful and clumsy, healthy and ill.
I can’t help but wonder if we have no scars, does it mean we have not lived? That is, does it mean that we have not truly lived? Have we been so careful or so fortunate that pain has somehow escaped us? Were that the case, would ours have been thus far a wholly human life?
Scars are our reminder of the cost of living. We cannot forge strong and loving ties with people and not get hurt. Tears of grief are part of the price we pay for loving someone. To take away those tears would be to take away the love. Physical scars are the reminder of life being lived both by being immersed in life and by sometimes not being careful in life. Some physical scars from surgery can be a reminder of a fearful time and hard work to keep living.
It is no wonder Thomas in the closed room following Jesus’ resurrection, wished to see the scars of Jesus. Thomas wanted to make sure it was the same Jesus who was crucified; that is the same Jesus who once lived and walked the earth living a human life. Thomas wasn’t doubting. Thomas wanted to check Jesus’ credentials to make sure Jesus was still one of them. No doubt a completely heavenly Jesus would have had scars disappear.
We carry around our scars, we live and will no doubt acquire more. Can one live life without gathering scars? Perhaps the better question is this: “Ought one live without receiving scars?” That is, can we say we have truly lived if we have a life without scars?
In “Lion King” it is the evil one named Scar. For followers of Jesus it is not evil to carry around scars… They are simply signs that we have lived.