From “Designed to Heal: What the Body Shows Us About Healing Wounds, Repairing Relationships, and Restoring Community” by Jennie A. McLaurin and Cymbeline Tancongco Culiat
Other problems may occur in bodies that don’t adequately feel pain. Hansen’s disease (formerly called leprosy) and diabetes, for instance, cause neuropathies in which pain sensors in the body are dulled. With these diseases, wounds may actually fester and become worse, because when the body can’t signal pain, the injuries aren’t as easily recognized. But even people with intact nervous systems don’t immediately recognize the pain of a serious wound like a bullet as their body first tries to protect them in a shock-like state.
Hidden unhealed wounds have a way of becoming visible. In medicine, we sometimes see inflammation grow until a deep abscess breaks open – a burst appendix is a common example. Leftover debris tries to wall it off, to encapsulate it. But the longer it goes unrecognized, the greater the chance for an infection to develop. Sometimes, leftover debris in a puncture wound site will work its way to the skin surface as the skin forms new layers from below. Pieces of glass, splinters of wood, and stitches have found their way up and out like this. Unhealed wounds can also form tunnels, called sinus tracts. These tunnels hide the wound origins but drain infection into an open space, like the mouth or neck. The surgeon has to follow the tunnel to its source rather than simply close the opening, or it will never heal.
Similarly, our hidden unhealed wounds of the spirit will make themselves known, causing people to leave their spouse, their church, and their longtime friends. Withdrawal, anger, and self-destructive habits can occur when healing doesn’t. The tragedies of post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide are dramatic esults of earlier unhealed trauma. In American society, and especially in our churches, people increasingly seem to separate themselves into encapsulated defensive groups rather than resolve to clear the debris and seek closure. We avoid conflicting viewpoints instead of working together to heal wounds that cause division. Separation is not a sign of health.
Polarization in America is at an all-time high, not just politically but also socially. For example, mainline Protestant churches used to have members who might be described as theologically conservative, moderate, or liberal, all worshiping together. Perhaps tradition drove attendance, but in any case, a spectrum of views was clearly present within these large denominations. Now, though, individual churches tend to draw people who are like-minded, with little room for those who hold different ways of thinking. Congregations are becoming less diverse, following the same patterns as political and social movements, abandoning any uniting middle ground. Dan White Jr. laments this in his book Love over Fear, challenging Christians to see polarization as a force that destroys community and ultimately tears apart the kingdom of God. White cites Pew research that shows a “siloing” effect: 73 percent of self-described conservatives say that their close friends share their same worldview, and similarly 69 percent of those claiming a liberal leaning.