I spoke to my parents today about their trip to the Festival of Faith and Writing. Mom was still brimming over with excitement and enthusiasm from the trip. Dad of course enjoyed it. He likes everything like some 77 year old Mikey, but Mom likes to stay at home.

Two years ago Lori (my sister) and Dad went and came back determined to try to drag Mom to the next one. Mom relented and she enjoyed it beyond her expectations. Why?

Mom and Dad have always been book lovers. They sometimes call it “the disease”. Books don’t clog the arteries of their bodies, but fills the spaces of their condo. The bookshelves always runneth over. They live simply, except for books. This seems to be a genetic disorder. Their kids got it, and their grandkids seem to have it too.

Anyway, it wasn’t just the books, and the talks that got them excited, it was the friends. For many in the Christian Reformed Church Grand Rapids is jokingly referred to as “Jerusalem”. They’re cadre of friends tend to be populated with retired pastors and Christian school educators. Going to Jerusalem, hanging out at Calvin College with the bookish children of Dutchies and Frisians is a little taste of heaven.

This week ThinkChristian.net will post a piece I wrote on tattoos. I was a bit surprised to get the assignment from Josh (the editor) because I don’t really know much about them. I had to do a bit of research and God blessed me with Brandon who volunteers at Living Stones. Brandon has the most and best ink I’ve ever seen and his story is as colorful as his skin. One of the reasons he tells me for being so inked up is the he grew up among a lot of Mexicans and he was tired of being so white, so now he’s colored.

Anyway, the comment Brandon made that stuck was his observation (which should have been obvious to me) was that tattoos are scars.

As part of following the Twitter stream I found the blog of Ann Voskamp whose session was very popular. Today on her blog she had a wonderful post on scars. I can’t think of scars and not think of Jesus’ resurrected body complete with scars.

Neal Hand, one of the God’s precious stones at Living Stones always complains to me about Jesus’ scars when I mention them. “That must be wrong. He shouldn’t have them. He should be perfect”.

Scars and perfection clearly don’t mix.  When my son Jared was a toddler in Barahona he flung himself at the coffee table and put a scar just above his eyebrow. I remember the pediatrician in the states months later saying “I probably would have referred him to a plastic surgeon for that.” Jared is now 6’4″ and going off to college next year, but the scar remains. Jared will have that scar till they put him in the grave.

Why was the Festival of Faith and Writing so precious? Partly because of the scars. Now in their 70s, after years of ministry in Paterson and New England my parents know many sad stories. A number of them can be found in my father’s book. When they get together with old friends they share stories, stories of joy and pain. They learn things about the past that they didn’t know about, things that make sense of anomalies that caused little more than a pause at the time. They don’t celebrate the pain, but it is the pain that brings richness to the triumphs.

Jesus’ scars remain because his scars bring a kind of pain even in a tearless renewed creation that brings richness to the triumph.

If Neal can quibble with the Gospels about the scars, I can quibble with the canon about the tears. Tears are part of joy. I don’t think there will literally be no tears in the age to come, I think only a certain kind of tear will be banished. I think when we see Jesus’ scars we will cry, but it will be a good cry.

Mom’s mom used to say “no need for tears” in her stoic, Frisian way, but she always said it while she was shedding them.

The Creator certainly must love good stories because he seems to love making good stories and good story tellers. I think there will be scars and tears in the age to come, and we will welcome them and be blessed by them.