Day 42: “Scars That Stay Inside”

DAY 42

Faith in the Midst of a Pandemic

A series of daily reflections for people of faith

by Rev. Robert Bayley, Interim Pastor

Patuxent Presbyterian Church, California, Maryland

WEEK SIX: SATURDAY 25 APRIL 2020

“Scars That Stay Inside”

“There is this sense that the enemy could be anywhere, and in any given moment you can see this in the eyes of the people who live here. They express, without even wanting to, a profound sense of loss. These are scars that stay inside.” - CMDR. Giuditta Luca, MD, Italian navy, assigned to the Pope John 23rd Hospital, Bergamo, Italy in a newsmagazine article 12 April 2020

I have done a number of classes on “Film and Faith,” in which one of the films I use is “The Killing Fields,’ about the horrific slaughter of millions in Cambodia and 95% of all Christians. I have visited those killing fields in Cambodia, the memorial stack of human bones piled high not computing – it’s too much. I asked a Cambodian man here in the US who had lived through that nightmare if it was as bad as the film portrayed: “No, it was not,” he replied, “it was worse.” Cambodian refugees in the US continue to live in silence with deep ‘scars that stay inside.’  

The present pandemic is causing pain that forms scars that stay inside, from the disappointed pain of missing weddings and graduations to the wrenching pain of not being able to be with loved ones as they die, no last kiss on the forehead, sometimes not even a last “I love you.” 

A local Detroit news outlet reported on 13 April 2020 that “A Michigan woman struggled to say goodbye to her husband, who died of COVID-19. They couldn’t see him in the week before he died, except for Facetime facilitated by a nurse, and they couldn’t attend his funeral…In the last three weeks she, her father and her brother have all tested positive for COVID-19, the same virus that killed her husband…” These are deep scars that stay inside.

And where is Jesus in all of this? It was said of Him that He came for those deeply wounded, struggling just to make it through one day at a time: “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.” Matthew 12:20.   

Reflective question: Where within you are there deep ‘scars that stay inside’ that Jesus asks you to give Him today? Will you?

Reflective scripture: Psalm 130:1

“Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord; O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry…”

Reflective hymn: “Healer of Our Every Ill” – Marty Haugen (1950-     )

Healer of our every ill, light of each tomorrow,

give us peace beyond our fear and hope beyond our sorrow.

You who know our fears and sadness,

grace us with your peace and gladness;

Spirit of all comfort, fill our hearts.