Reflections from Gary Cottle

Yesterday my dermatologist removed a chunk of skin from my forearm. A couple months ago, I had noticed two freckles were getting larger, merging, darkening, reddening, lightening, changing. I made the appointment resulting in removal for biopsy of the aforementioned hide. Now I have a small wound (1/2” square) down to tissue with the outer skin removed.


I went to the doctor as a curative measure to change something that was damaged on my body. Over 60-plus years of exposure to sun has damaged my skin and I am prone to actinic keratosis (pre-cancerous lesions which left untreated can become melanomas). I visit the dermatologist twice a year and normally he freezes off a couple dozen spots each visit; I avoid exposing unprotected skin to sunlight and keep an eye out for anything unusual. I am vigilant about my skin. Today, my arm is tender but I chose to be wounded to stop a greater ill.

Wholeness is much like my wound—what we don’t prevent, we must cure. Our good Brother Ray has shared much of my story (Montana Gary) in this blog and in the last couple years has shared much of the pain of his own losses. This sharing isn’t to glorify what we experience but to encourage ourselves and others to recognize the pains of life and honestly, curatively live toward healing. Because I desire wholeness in my physical body, I am willing to recognize, be honest and treat the damage I find. I am willing to suffer the pain of the wound in order to stop the damage before it spreads.

Many of us have emotional wounds from years of exposure to life—friends, family, business, churches, the world. We can either ignore/deny the wounds or we can be honest about what we experience and use my doctor’s suggestions. After the procedure, I was given a handout on wound care which is summarized by three points:

1. KEEP IT CLEAN. The first step was to remove the damage, recognize it and cut it out, stop the spread. While it was painful and something I would prefer to avoid, healing cannot begin until the wound is exposed. Much of the pains of life is like this—we ignore, deny, hide, overlook the damage until it becomes threatening enough to cause too much pain to ignore. Then we take it to God. How much less we would suffer if we went earlier, recognizing the damage for what it is and depending upon Him for the curative process.

2. KEEP IT MOIST. After removal, I have a sore which needs care. What used to be on my forearm is gone but where it was there is a hole which needs to be filled. This will take time as the body regenerates. Emotional damage is similar in that it takes time beyond recognition to heal what has been lost. During this process, the Spirit of God can be the anointing salve that keeps the moistness so that the wound does not heal with a distortion. Current medical practice is to keep the dryness of the wound minimal so a scab doesn’t twist and pull the skin being formed. We are like that in emotional healing as it takes time to allow God’s Spirit to minister to us and reveal the process so we don’t become dry and twisted, being worse than the beginning. Hardness is not helpful.

3. KEEP IT COVERED. The wound on my arm does not need more of what caused the damage; it needs to be protected, sheltered, covered. Our emotions likewise need protection. When I first began recovery, my emotions were very sensitive to additional damage from others. It was a rawness that was easily irritated. While there were times I needed to face more damage than I was comfortable with at the time, there were also periods when I simply needed God’s covering upon my life and His care of my wounds without other disturbances. As I have a bandage on my forearm today, I know that there is healing taking place and eventually the cover must be removed but only in God’s good time.