Debridement & Healing

It is often through the traumas and challenges of life that we find some of the greatest lessons in healing. Jesus Christ’s life and ministry epitomized caring for and healing the sick and the afflicted. We read in Luke, chapter 5:

30 But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?
31 And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.
32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

I was recently introduced to a medical procedure called “Debridement.” It is essentially the removal of dead or damaged body tissue, such as a scab, that tends to breed bacteria beneath the surface of the skin, preventing the body’s ability to heal itself. It is only through the removal of the dead tissue and bacteria, essentially opening the wound, where true healing can occur. You might be thinking to yourself, “So how does this apply to cats?” Well, let me tell you a story.

I’m not a big cat person, but my daughter had her heart set on allowing our cat to have babies. Within not too long we had 4 tiny kittens. Unfortunately, one of the small females was unable to eat very well and passed away early one morning. Two males and one female remained.

In the beginning, the mother cat—named Fluffy—kept her kittens in a small, enclosed cat house. For some unknown reason, she felt the need to move the kittens underneath our outdoor patio all the way to the back corner where we could barely see them. The area was very dirty and crawling with bugs and covered in spider webs. Just before she took them under the patio, we noticed their eyes started to become glazed over with a scab of sorts. They stayed below the patio for about two weeks before she moved them to a hard-to-reach place behind our woodshed.

At this point, we became quite worried about the kittens and how their eyes were doing. We dug them out from behind the woodpile and assessed the situation. Each of their eyes was glued shut and none of them could see. They would attempt to walk but were essentially blind. We contacted a local veterinarian and they said that due to the grooming habits of mother cats, kitten’s eyes often become infected. She recommended several forms of treatment, which included washing their eyes with a saline solution and applying an ointment. This had to be done several times a day. I remember one particularly gross instance where my wife was washing one of the kitten’s eyes with the saline solution. Puss had built up behind the scab. When the solution had softened the tissue, the pressure was released and puss shot out like a huge pimple. It was really gross.

This process of opening the scar tissue over the eyes and cleaning out the bacteria continued day after day, week after week. There was some marked improvement, but we were still quite worried because most of them had some form of eye damage. The veterinarian told us in a follow-up visit that there was a possibility that each of them may be blind in one or both eyes to a greater or lesser degree.

Move ahead several more months to today. We have 3 healthy cats that are fun to play with and who like to wrestle with each other. All three of them act like normal cats should, but upon closer inspection, you can still see the lingering effects of the original scarring. Their vision appears normal, but it has required constant care by my wife for them to heal properly. Kudos to her for her unwavering kindness.

Lessons Learned

Each of us lives in a fallen world, full of imperfections and dangers. Few, if any, of us go through this experience unscathed. We all have battle scars. Some of those wounds can be quite deep and are often filled with negative emotions that are difficult to release. On the surface, we may see a leathery scab, but below we find emotions that build pressure and breed bacteria, essentially killing the process of true healing. Without taking the necessary steps of opening the wound we can find ourselves blind or in need of taking even more drastic steps to remove the affected area.

What about organizations and institutions? What about our churches or even our families? All these groups can suffer the same dire situation as my cats. All of them require the necessary debridement process to be healed. If they don’t, they will continue to stumble and fall, blinded by their own reluctance to expose the ugliness and trapped emotions incurred in the past.

Now, I’ve hesitated a bit to make a direct application to religion, but I feel some of this needs to be presented. This “Tale of 3 Cats” has nearly identical parallels to the LDS church.

The modern-day version of the LDS church is a very whitewashed facade of its historical past. They have essentially put a small band-aid on a massive wound that has scabbed over. Deep below the surface, there is severe scarring, dead tissue, and festering bacteria. Over the past few decades, and especially the most recent actions, are only adding to the pressure that is building below the surface. There appears to be a “nothing to see here” attitude. Nephi from the Book of Mormon put it this way:

“And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell." –2 Nephi 28:21

The Savior has provided a way for the church, and us as individuals, to heal from these wounds. But it requires that we remove the scabs, scrape out the dead tissue, and clean out the bacteria. Both members and leaders need to recognize past atrocities and falsehoods that have been perpetuated for over 170 years. I’d be tickled pink if we heard something like the following from the pulpit at general conference, “Brothers and Sisters, the words you will hear from this pulpit over the next two days may be true, and they may be false. It is up to you to discern the truthfulness of all things through the power of the Holy Ghost.”

Will this debridement process be uncomfortable? Yes, possibly even painful at times. It is important to recognize the difficult challenges of the past and to cut the cords that bind us to them. If these incorrect or limiting doctrines, cultures, and traditions remain covered and hidden, the Lord will need to take drastic measures. In fact, this is exactly what was prophesied in the scriptures by ancient prophets and even the Lord himself. (3 Nephi 16)

10 And thus commandeth the Father that I should say unto you: At that day when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, and shall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all nations, and above all the people of the whole earth, and shall be filled with all manner of lyings, and of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all manner of hypocrisy, and murders, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, and of secret abominations; and if they shall do all those things, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, behold, saith the Father, I will bring the fulness of my gospel from among them.

11 And then will I remember my covenant which I have made unto my people, O house of Israel, and I will bring my gospel unto them.

12 And I will show unto thee, O house of Israel, that the Gentiles shall not have power over you; but I will remember my covenant unto you, O house of Israel, and ye shall come unto the knowledge of the fulness of my gospel.

We must be willing to perform the difficult task of opening the wound and scraping it clean. For true healing can only happen as we allow the healing balm of Jesus Christ’s atonement to purify our hearts, minds, and souls.

Shalom

Disclaimer: Only a small portion of my thoughts and feelings are contained within this essay. It is nearly impossible to condense a lifetime of study, thoughts, and impressions, into a few paragraphs. I value and encourage the need for altering perspective as new light and knowledge is acquired. One of the best ways to know a person’s heart is to sit down and talk face-to-face, perhaps while consuming a mild barley drink.