I have various body parts that no longer function as well as they were designed. While I realize that the passage of decades will do that to the human anatomy, something else has caused these particular issues. The ankle that sometimes locks up, the knee that swells, and the shoulders that ache reflect injuries that are largely self-inflicted, yet those injuries alone are not the entire reason why I am in the condition that I am in today. Rather, it is because I did not always seek proper medical care or allow my body to completely heal from those injuries before I went back to my normal life that these body parts never regained total functionality. I would like to think that, had I known back then how those injuries would impact my life now, I would have been more diligent in my recoveries. However, I know that I am a hard-headed guy who would likely ignore even my own advice.
Oftentimes, we will shrug off an injury as being insignificant or unimportant because we don’t want our lives to be further inconvenienced. How many times have you said, or heard someone else say “I don’t have time to be sick”? That mindset afflicts many of us, so we let legitimate health issues go undiagnosed or untreated. In the short-term, it seems like we get away with it, because we are so focused on simply getting the things done that we persevere through the discomfort until the task is completed. Our objective wasn’t to be healthy, but rather it was to complete the task. Unfortunately, by ignoring the health implications then, we may limit our ability to complete tasks in the future.
My concern right now is that our communities have been wounded, and instead of trying to fully understand the extent of our injuries and seek complete rehabilitation, our emphasis is simply on getting back to normal. The national battle with Covid-19 has deeply impacted us, physically, emotionally, spiritually, financially, and likely in other ways as well. Please don’t get me wrong – I desperately want to see a return to normal life as quickly as possible. Yet it seems to me that, in our desire to get back to our regular lives, we may simply push aside the many wounds or weaknesses that have been revealed to us recently. Our failure to address those issues now can impair our communities later, and that is a fate that I wish to avoid.
Now is the time to take stock of where we truly are, as individuals and as members of a broader community. How have we been handling these last six months, versus how should we have handled it? Have we hardened our hearts against others because they think or believe differently? Have we belittled the pain that others feel because of our own pain? Have we been so concerned about our own lives that we haven’t offered help to others? Have we been quick to judge others because they weren’t listening to the same experts that we were? In these, and countless other ways, we have caused harm to our communities and to ourselves. If we don’t take the time to repair this damage, the wounds may ultimately heal but the scar tissue will prevent us from being the community that we once were.
Our sense of community is too important to risk weakening it by not dealing with these issues where we find them today. You are too important. Please take the time to thoroughly assess the implications of these last six months on your life, and then address the issues as you work your way back towards normal life.
Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron