Don't Scratch It

Children are always pushing the envelope but they frequently fall.  They scrape their legs and arms and even their heads.  Parents pick them up, kiss them, and affirm that all will be OK.  They disinfect and bandage the wound sending the toddlers on their way.

As these little bodies begin to heal, scabs form over the wounds.  These encrustations aid in healing the trauma, but the nerves notice stimulated skin cells. Brains send a message of itch and scratching begins.

Mothers everywhere begin preaching, “Don’t scratch it!”  They do this because removing the scab can re-open the wound thereby setting back the process of healing – sometimes, repeatedly. They know that healing will be complete only when this scab disappears on its own. A scar may remain, but the promise that ‘all will be OK’ will be realized.

Today, there is hope.  For centuries, we have ignored, covered up and over, dismissed, and denied that some of us are treated less equal than others.  It appears that there is a joining of all (well, many more than some of us would expect) bringing the light of attention to this injustice.  It looks as though discussions of change could finally become true actions of change.  

But these wounds are deep-seated.  Rehabilitation could take decades and the scabs that form will cause serious surface tingling.  This thin curative veneer will become an irritation that begs a return to what was comfortable for those in control of well-established structures.  It will become an itch of this long-established system calling its members to desperately scratch here, there, and everywhere in efforts to alleviate the hypersensitivity of this perceived inflammation. 

As we work towards bringing unity, justice, reconciliation, and peace, commit to the anticipated longevity of change. Accept in your heart, mind, and soul that what lies ahead is a major societal shift. This isn't just a skinned elbow that will heal in a week or so.  This follows the magnitude of major surgery.  Recovery will be long as the excised disparities and inequities scab over and heal. But each of us will be stronger and more loving when this blanket of healing falls away.

"There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."  Galatians 3: 28

Don’t Scratch It.