Not the last book of the Bible kind. The “smack my forehead, why didn’t I see that” kind. A friend of mine had to come to the river to mow yesterday. She decided to camp in her trailer up here last night so we had dinner from the grill and sat on the deck till dark. We were discussing an issue I’ve dealt with over the years and I made a casual remark to the effect…”I’ll probably deal with this the rest of my life.” She sat quietly for several seconds and in that wise, no-nonsense, shake-me-by-the-scruff-of-the-neck way I’ve come to appreciate, she said, “Well, you can sure do that, but it doesn’t sound like much fun to me.”

Stunned silence.

And in five seconds, everything made perfect sense. I do not have to make sense of every single thing that has ever happened to me. I do not have to work it out in my mind. I don’t have to “get over” stuff I’ve already “gotten through”. $#|£ happens. Plain and simple. I did the best I could with the knowledge I had at the time. I believed things about myself based on the opinions of others. And they just weren’t true.

I could keep working things over like worry beads, or I can scatter them across the sky till they become stars. Scars or stars? You choose.

❤️

“From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.”

Galatians 6:17