See those scars

I've been thinking about scars the last few days. "Odd thing to be thinking about," you might be saying to yourself. Yes, but then again we all have them in some form or fashion. I have some on my right ankle from a lost battle with a dog who was personally offended which as a ten year old I rode my bike past his house. Those are physical wounds that healed.

Our preacher called attention last Sunday to Paul's scars, "...for I bear in my body the marks of Jesus" (Gal. 6:17). His devotion to his Risen Lord led to those scars.

All of those ninth graders in Ms. Gruwell's class in the movie "Freedom Writers Diary" bore "scars" of friends and family dying, domestic violence, poverty, racism, and gang violence. Those are scars and wounds that do not so easily heal.

Then there are farmers' scars. And, scars of family members. They are many and they are severe: strokes, renal failure, lost eyesight, and hypertension; depression, anxiety, and insomnia; and, divorce, death, and despair. Some healing can occur, has occurred, and will occur. There are some wounds from which there is no healing.

A resilient people? Absolutely! Faithful people? Absolutely! Love their country? Yes! Love their neighbors? Yes! Love the land? Without a doubt!

They bear in their bodies the marks of discrimination of various institutions and people, and health care for their bodies, their minds, and their relationships are limited. Will the 2007 Farm Bill address these scars? Will re-opening the Pigford Case ease the suffering? What is the face of justice?

When will it come?