š¶ These battle scars, don’t look like they’re fading,
Don’t look like they’re ever going away,
They ain’t never gonna change š¶
Weāre deep into 2020. This year has brought some of us to our knees. A song called āBattle Scarsā seemed fitting to me based on my perception of the current state of those around me. I rarely speak to a person who doesnāt feel damaged in some way by the way the year has played out.
But I wonder why this song spoke to me; why do I find the lyrics so captivating? Maybe because in life and in my work, Iāve met many people who think armoring up is the way to avoid pain.
š¶ Shields, body armours and vests,
Don’t properly work, that’s why you’re in a locker full of hurt š¶
š¶Now you’re down on the ground screaming medic
The only thing that comes is the post-traumatic stressesš¶
āIt hurts when I do. It hurts when I donātā. Which is worse? Itās hard to say. In my line of work itās often the emotional pain that has people afraid. Afraid to heal. Or having healed but fearing ripping the scar back open. Self protecting. Feeling delicate, Feeling ābrokenā.
Honestly, I did that thing too. Itās called avoidance; the idea of something we fear being too much. So we do everything we can to rid the thoughts from our mind, avoid the memories, and even the people places and things that remind us of the painful thing thatās got us stuck.
Unfortunately thatās the very thing that keeps us stuck; not getting help to deal with the trauma from our past. And thatās where the writer of this song was going when he speaks of being in the front lines. It feels like that sometimes, at least it has for me.
š¶A lover not a fighter on the front line with a poem
Trying to write yourself a rifle
Maybe sharpen up a song
To fight the tanks and drones of you being aloneš¶
Grief and loneliness can be gripping. Terrifying. Seemingly Unbearable. And with all of the rules and isolation weāve had, itās just hard to go it alone. As humans, weāre wired for connection.
Perhaps life has taught you people arenāt safe. They always leave. Youāve got that abandonment wound. Or maybe they were there, but emotionally unavailable. If thatās the case, this part of the song might resonate.
š¶I wish I couldn’t feel, I wish I couldn’t love
I wish that I could stop ’cause it hurts so muchš¶
Being vulnerable comes with a price. You legitimately put yourself out there. Youāre authentic. You donāt hide your feelings.
And then suddenly, theyāre gone, leaving you to declare āNever again.ā Heart broken. Feelings raw. Now what?
I think itās fair to say 2020 has a lot of fear in it. We HAVE to avoid actual things for our safety but the thoughts can still be dealt with. America got down to business this year in a lot of ways; shining the spotlight on racial injustice, and uniting over leadership for our country. Thatās where one thing came into the picture and really resonated with me. Hope.
Light was always going to defeat darkness. Itās hard to see that this year especially and with this administration. Weāve had perhaps one of the darkest years most of us can remember, or will ever remember. And the battlefield isnāt in a distant land. Itās our country, our very doorstep.
Itās so hard. Weāre in survival mode. The entire country is in crisis, and itās not just the pandemic itās our perception of democracy, itās the fear of going backwards from all the progress we’ve made, and itās personal. Itās so dark that it seems like everything is closing in on us at times. We may think thereās no way out. We may think weāre doomed. We donāt know what to expect. Some of us are scared and rightfully so. We have no control over the people around us and their actions. Weāre thinking catastrophic! Is this the end? Why is this happening? And we arenāt getting answers.
On top of the pandemic, a handful of my closest friends have lost loved ones. Now Iām starting to regularly counsel on grief and other emotions that come along with a season where ‘Seasonal Affective Disorder’ is already bad enough.
Itās nearly Christmas. So many around me describe this year ending as a finish line of sorts. Even if weāre slo-mo working our way there. Not everyone we know got to make it to the finish line this year and that resonates with me, hitting me especially hard as a veteran, where I often think of the creed; a Latin phrase ānemo resideoā or “leave no one behindā. Werenāt there people we lost this year that we would have literally carried to the finish line if that meant saving them? Life is so fragile and this year was an unpleasant reminder of that.
As a Christian the peace I find when I think about all the loss and uncertainty is this. God wonāt abandon us. Heās with us through the battle, our scars have a purpose, and we already know the ending. He wins. Thank God for simple truths in difficult times!
If you arenāt a Christian, thatās ok, God loves you no matter what! I like to think of a special verse I often repeat. I know that in life even the most loyal of all people may let me down, but I can rest in this.

Artists: Guy Sebastian, Lupe Fiasco