It is said that time heals all wounds. No matter how much we might wish that to be true, alas it is not. Some wounds are too deep, the pain too entrenched, the sorrow too embedded within the soul to be alieviated by the mere passing of another circuit of the Earth around the Sun, or even the Sun in its circuit around the galaxy.
These are not wounds of a singular sort, but the accumulation of multiple years of daggers to the flesh and, far worse, the soul. On the side of courage these wounds are not all of accident, but those that are taken willingly for the greater good. Those wounds are almost tolerable, and even in the pain there is a sweetness that can be discerned. But still one can only absorb so many, especially when they are unnoticed or unrewarded, before that slight sweetness can begin to sour.
The most heinous are those wounds inflicted by those who should be knit to our own soul. Wounds most foul from this quarter are of particular intent, when kindredness of soul has been rent and the gaping void is filled with venom. But again, more often than not, wounds to the soul are those of neglect not of revenge or vindictiveness.
Neglect is the most hurtful wound of all; it festers and gnaws at the soul. Instead of healing time only causes it to grow deeper like a sinkhole consuming the ground. Neglect of deed, neglect of a word, neglect of kindness, and most of all, neglect of touch; these are the wounds that lead to that most horrific darkness of the soul, loneliness.
No, time will not heal all wounds; only the end of time can do that. For some death begins the healing and the end of all time brings the finality of the healing. Wounds are healed with no scar lingering; loneliness ends as though it never was; all courage is recognized and all sacrifice rewarded. All is as it should be.
But not for all, for some the end of time brings finality of the judgment that death was the mere foreshadowing. In the judgment wounds will never heal, only grow worse. Neglect will not end, only grow more painful. Loneliness will never cease, it will only become more solitary. Courage and sacrifice will not be rewarded; but rather witness against the condemned because they were done apart from faith.
All will be as it should be only for those who have faith. “For without faith it is impossible to please Him. For he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him” (Hebrew 11:6).
Even for those in the household of faith focusing on this truth is still, oft-times hard, especially for those who wait for the end of time with many a wound and loneliness beyond description. Time is no friend of ours, no help for our soul. It is not the enemy, as it is to those who have no hope; but it is also no friend.