Civility, caring for other people, conflict management, self-control, integrity are constructive traits.  I am disappointed and dismayed by the negativity in society right now.  As we near our national election there is blame, ridicule, slander, questionable integrity, and division.  Candidates and regular people on the streets are tearing each other apart.  These wounds can be hard to heal.  Consider what love, patience, and goodwill could do to aid healing in our society right now.

Healing skin wounds

Do you have any scars?  The body’s primary defense mechanism and largest organ is the skin.  Any breach in the skin’s integrity can allow bacteria and infection into the body, alter the body’s ability to regulate temperature and water storage, and it usually hurts.  The skin is a very sensitive organ.

Any cut, tear, wound results in an influx of parts of the immune system to start healing the wound.

If the wound is small enough, the skin on either side of the cut can rejoin, sometimes without even a scar.

If the wound is larger, the gap is too big to allow the two sides of the skin to reattach.  In that case, granulation tissue forms to fill the gap.  New small blood vessels grow in to the area, fibrin ‘scaffolding forms’ and cells build in around the fibrin.  Then, more small blood vessels are formed, more fibrin ‘scaffolding’ forms, and more cell fill in the area.  This continues until the whole space is filled with granulation tissue.  This appears as a scar.  The space where the wound left a gap that was filled with granulation tissue is noticeable.  That skin will not be or look the same.  Granulation tissue contains fewer cells and blood vessels compared to normal skin.

Healing relationship wounds

This scar tissue is only 60-85% as strong as normal tissue.  So although the body heals itself, it is not like the wound never happened.  That is so true of our emotional scars as well.  It’s too easy to let words fly when we’re angry.  In a rage, your objective might be to win and tear the other person down.  This might feel ‘good’ in the moment.  But what happens later?  What about the guilt and shame?  What about the damage done to the relationship?  Some things can’t be completely undone.  But much healing CAN be done, and a 60-85% healed relationship is better than no relationship at all.

For more information about how the body heals itself or the health impacts of negativity, contact us at http://www.medsmash.com/contact.

Biblical Application:

It can distressing to see so much negativity all over the media.  It seems to be adding to the negativity in the workplace, the community, the church, and the home.  I encourage us to take a deep breath and focus on our one stable source of hope and joy.

Our interpersonal differences can lead to cuts and wounds in families and groups.  If those cuts can be identified and resolved quickly through skilled communication and love, they can often heal without so much as a scar.

But, when they are left unaddressed or allowed to get worse and worse, the healing process can be messy and less effective than it would have been if handled quickly.  This is not to say that healing is impossible.  Just as the human body is amazing in its resilience, with mediation, healing, communication, and forgiveness, relationships can heal and grow.  They may not look the same, changes may occur, but reconnection and resumed integrity can be achieved.
Psalm 147:3
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
1 Peter 2:24
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

May your wounds, your relationships, your faith be strong.

Blessings,

Michelle Fritsch