I was a member of a group at church that was populated mostly by old retired White men. And many of them were veterans of various military services. They were not the kind of guy who tooted their own horns. They often struggled with various disabilities.
One fellow I was very close with, had served in Vietnam, and had significant pieces of shrapnel/flak embedded in his skull that they couldn't pick out. He sometimes had minor memory lapses and PTSD bad enough to require sleep medication, every night.
Another fellow was doing well and had a construction job still, but noticeable scarring all along his forearms. And he never made a big deal about it or anything, until once we were all gathered for a meal, and our pastor pointed out that this fellow had run back into a burning building to rescue someone and his arms were set on fire from that incident, and he sustained significant damage to them, but in the end it was indeed an act of heroism and unselfish bravery to save another human being.
It was very humbling to be given this new perspective on guys whom I barely knew. There is definitely a story behind every scar on someone's body. Some of those stories may be quite eye-opening!
One fellow I was very close with, had served in Vietnam, and had significant pieces of shrapnel/flak embedded in his skull that they couldn't pick out. He sometimes had minor memory lapses and PTSD bad enough to require sleep medication, every night.
Another fellow was doing well and had a construction job still, but noticeable scarring all along his forearms. And he never made a big deal about it or anything, until once we were all gathered for a meal, and our pastor pointed out that this fellow had run back into a burning building to rescue someone and his arms were set on fire from that incident, and he sustained significant damage to them, but in the end it was indeed an act of heroism and unselfish bravery to save another human being.
It was very humbling to be given this new perspective on guys whom I barely knew. There is definitely a story behind every scar on someone's body. Some of those stories may be quite eye-opening!
The Monkey's Paw: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=4S8rtxPmHTA&si=v607QuxDK11...