Today, before our Music and the Spoken Word broadcast, I was rather early sitting in the loft. Truth be told, I prefer to be early. Any ways, I was getting myself situated in my chair in the loft. I placed my music binder under my seat, and in the process of doing so, I scraped my finger on the A/C regiser which is located under my seat. I took a look at the damage and saw that the vent had taken a layer of skin away, and blood was starting to ooze out.  I held my finger with my other hand in order to stop the bleeding. I was more concerned about getting blood on my "uniform". When I saw that the slice would not stop the bleeding, I searched around to see if someone had a bandage.

Being a former Boy Scout, I usually keep a bandage in my wallet for those "just in case" scenarios. This was one of those cases, however I did not replace the bandage last time I needed it. I found someone who did have a bandage and I applied it to my finger, which was revolting with some minor pain and thumping.  They always give the advice, "mind over matter". I needed the pain to stop, so I forced it out of my mind, and it worked. Yet, looking down at the bandage reminded me that there was something wrong.

Now, I've had my fare share of cuts, bruises and gashes in my life, and if there are some truths I can impart to you, they would be:

  • The scars do not disappear right away - ever.
  • The more severe the injury, the longer it takes to heal.
  • Using an antibacterial cleansing agent will help the process of healing go quicker - and safer.
  • Using no pre-emptive cleansing methods, may cause even more problems.
  • Some scars may be permanent, while others may never be noticeable again.
  • They DO heal - sometimes longer than we wished they would.
We all go throught this life as imperfect human beings. That is a true statement. We all make mistakes. Some are more grevious than others. Sometimes, we try our own methods of fixing those errors without using the "prescribed" method of repentance.  We are more concerned with how the reprecussions may look to others, so we attempt to cover those errors with our own "home remedy". We may try to block it out of our minds with the same, "Mind over matter" principle. It may work for a while, but the scar of sin is still there, and actually might get worse if we attempt to ignore it. Even if we are sure no one else will notice, there is definately One that does take notice.

Some sins, or errors can be remedies with a bandage. That bandage is basically us praying for forgiveness to our Heavenly Father. I don't know about you, but sometimes I feel like a spiritual mummy with all those bandages that I need to repent of. And after we have done the praying and asking for forgiveness, the healing begins. The spiritual ointment that can be applied are the scriptures combined with prayer.

Some sins are more grevious, like a gash and might need some further attention.  I learned as a Boy Scout, that if a cut is around an artery, and you see blood pumping out of the wound, then time is of the essence and you must apply a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. Yet, there are many walking the earth that suffer from major spritual gashes, and their life-blood of testimony and having the companionship of the Holy Ghost is at peril. These need the attention of the Ward/Branch spiritual doctor - the Bishop or Branch President to start the applying of the spiritual tourniquet. The process to full recovery may be a long and arduous jurney, but like the body and its healing properties, they will heal if we take the counsel of our spiritual doctors. They can prescribe the correct remedy. And again, sometimes we may be impatient with the spiritual healing process, but we need to let the "Attendent", or Holy Ghost help in that process along with patience. The remedies may vary, but almost always include reading scriptures and prayer. Those are the cleansing agents which can rid us of the "bacteria" that might be there.

Like the cuts, bruises, and gashes, the sins that we commit and the beautiful repentence process - those scars may fade. Note, I said fade, not disappear. Some of the more grevious sins may leave a lasting scar. But I believe they are there to remind us of what happened, and more importantly, how we overcame those sins. we may walk this earth with many evidences of past sins, but the thing to remember that they are healed, in that they no longer pose aproblem for blood to escape, and bacteria to enter. Our Heavenly Father cares more about what is in the inside of us rather than the outside. Our hearts, our willingness to do His will, our repentance, and how we served others speak more than what we accomplished in life, how much money we made, or how big our homes, cars, etc. are. 

But it all begins with us. Whether we want to stop the bleeding and heal ourselves. And yes, the bandage has been replaced in my wallet.

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