Saturday, June 5, 2010

The Parable of the pull tab

     This is a true story from my childhood, it took place some 40+ yrs ago, but I can remember it like it just happened…

 

       More years ago than I would like to admit, I was going for a walk on the beach with my dad. There are five brothers in the family, so he would take us out one at a time as I remember. A few times all of us would be out there, but it is really hard to keep track of five small boys on the beach…

Any now here is the story:

    One day while walking along the beach with my dad, I stepped on an old pull tab, and cut open my heel. The blood soon came and I freaked.

  My dad just picked me up in his arms and tried to comfort his frightened son the best he could. He brought me into the house and set me up on the kitchen sink and started the water running.

  He put my foot under the running water and my foot really began to bleed. I got even more scared and begged him to make it stop.

       I will never forget what he said to me, to this day it has been a comfort in times of trouble when it seems that it would rain forever.

    He said to me, “ I can’t right now, this cut has to bleed for a while, or else it will become infected. But don’t worry son, I am watching it and will not let it go on too long.”

 

    Those words have echoed in my mind and sank deep into my heart over the years…

Whenever we are wounded, we always try too hard to get over things, heal as fast as we can. This is not a good thing.

If we try to bind our own wounds, they will become infected. Some times a wound has to bleed for a long time before it will close up properly. There is no rhyme or reason in how long it takes to heal. What seems like a minor scrape bleeds continually for a long time. And what looks like a mortal wound, some times, can bring blessing from the most un- expected places.

   The thing is, each wound is different and yet the same in the sense that we don’t suffer any thing that is not common to humans.

  Each individual has their own threshold of pain, so there is no one who can say that they know how your wound feels except the Long Life Happiness One Whose Ways Are Beautiful. So there are only two who fully understand the depth of the wound, and really only One who knows the duration of suffering.

We will be wounded in this life, there is no stopping it. The only thing that can be done is to renew our minds and hearts so we can better understand our own heart and soul. Thus allowing for the healing process to begin. That process usually begins shortly after the wounding. There are some things that happen first, but healing begins pretty quickly rather we know it or not.

  The problem comes when healing is delayed and allows for the growth of bacteria and once again infection occurs. I’m not saying to try to forget… That’s probably the worst thing to try to do. But there are things that can be done to cleanse a wound to allow for quicker onset of the healing process… Dr.’s call it “debreeding the wound” where the edges of a wound are trimmed away so good tissue can be joined together.

  Some times we are led to the threshing floor, the place where even angels fear to tread. And our hearts go through a debreeding  process that is very painful at the time.

Don’t get me wrong or misunderstand, I’m not saying that the wound was for our own good, it’s what was done with that wound that is the point.

When some one I love has been wounded, the only thing that I can offer is love… It’s really the only thing worth offering!

Because we have the capacity for great sorrow, we also have the capacity for great love, and as both are traded back and forth there is a beautiful collision. When the sorrow of one heart collides with great love from another the condition for healing created… One can never truly heal alone and apart from others, we need to be comforted.

Remember, it is not necessary to remain strong during times of great sorrow, there is strength enough in others to help us. The Long Life Happiness One will move heaven and earth to come to our rescue when we are in need. To help heal our hearts.

I know that we live on a wild planet, and as our technology advances, there will have been created new ways of suffering as mankind becomes more and more ambitious with his preoccupation. I fear that we haven’t seen any thing yet…

    Now having said all that let me leave you with this,

I believe that we can help heal one another with the love that has existed from ever lasting to ever lasting. We can create situations that the natural out come is healing. And it is only with love, does any one stand a chance for any kind of wound to heal properly.

So when some one you love has been wounded, just love…  No need to grab the tourniquet right away… Better to just express your love and open your heart and ears…

                                                                                             I am what I am

4 comments:

  1. This is so acurate and well written again Mike. Once again I feel like you have written this for me as I am still bleeding and wonder when it will stop but at least I have things to take my mind off my wound for a while. You are right, what I need is a hug.

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  2. Mike: So interesting and so profoundly written, we all could take so many lessons from your story.

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  3. Those old pull tabs were a nuisance. I like your parable, it is full of important lessons.

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  4. So well said, Mike. We do. We have to let it be and to let it feel the way it does and to know it--and to know that it will change.

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