All suffering in this world--defined as that which brings grief, misery, unpleasantness, or harm--can be directly attributed to the fall of man. At the fall of man four separations take place which have lasting significance even unto our present time. Due to man's rebellion against His God, man is now alienated from His God, from others, from his own self, and from his environment. This four-fold separation produces an endless amount of pain, agony, anguish, and conflict.

Attempting to reconcile these separations is a sure way to produce a great amount of conflict in your life. However, not to pursue harmony in these separations leaves one feeling empty, for these four relationships are the only things that truly bring meaning to this world and our life. Thus, one is left with a choice: (1) Either remain apathetic and aloof from others in an attempt not to deal with the accompanying pain that will inevitably result from a reconciliation in any of these areas or (2) commit ones' self to pursuing that which will inevitably bring suffering, pain, and misery due to the intense effort and demands of relationships. One choice is to be stoic, the other is to be romantic. The first choice brings emptiness, the second, meaning. The first choice leaves one unscarred by others while the self remains seemingly intact (however, all the time it scars and consumes itself). The second choice leaves one scarred by others, yet with the satisfaction of knowing that the self has willingly laid itself open to another's blade rather than to one's own self-mutilation.

One modern day example of one who has gone the first route is Edward Scissorhands. Edward Scissorhands is a pitiful creature who is "not finished yet." Before his creator was able to complete Edward he dies of a heart attack, leaving Edward with long, grotesque, and highly lethal sharp blades for hands. Edward lives alone in a castle on a hill away from everyone in a private paradise of his own making, for he knows the damage he can do to others because of his hands. One day, a very nice yet naive lady brings him down to her neighborhood and demands that Edward live with her and her family rather than being all alone, tucked in his castle. Edward soon becomes the talk of the town due to the novelty of his appearance and abilities. His razor-sharp hands suddenly become the focus of attention and delight as those around him forget how potentially dangerous his hands can be. Meanwhile, Edward falls in love with the family daughter, Kim, who is dating an obnoxious ruffian. Eventually Kim sees the sincerity of Edward's love in comparison to her boyfriend's lust, and in a heated argument, breaks up with her boyfriend. Trouble ensues and Edward is caught in the middle of it. As the trouble reaches a pitch, Edward finds himself alone with Kim. She says to him longingly, "Hold me." With frustration in his voice, Edward painfully admits, "I can't." He is too afraid that he might harm her. At that moment she pushes herself into his arms and with great satisfaction on his face, Edward embraces her, yet all the while keeping a keen eye on his scissorhands so that he doesn't harm her. This moment of intense satisfaction lasts only for a moment, however, as Edward sees Kim's former boyfriend driving in a drunken stupor toward her house and toward her little brother who is crossing the street. Edward races outside and pushes the little brother from the path of the out-of-control van. The brother struggles because of the suddenness of Edward's actions and Edward tries to calm him down. While doing so, Edward accidentally slices both sides of the boy's face with his scissorhands. At that point, Kim's boyfriend pops from the van and yells at Edward, "Get out of here! Everything you touch you destroy!" After a struggle with her boyfriend, Kim looks deeply into Edward's eye and tells him to run. Edward then runs back up to his castle never to return again. Edward spends the rest of his days carving out ice sculptures of memories he had with Kim. Isolated with his memories, Edward is painfully alone and is forced to be because of the deadly weapons he yields that are an inseparable part of him.

Edward Scissorhands is a tragedy. In the end, he takes the first option. He is forced to remain separate from others because of the potential pain that he can easily cause others. This is the easy option and it is an option that we as Christians (and as human beings!) can not take. We must commit ourselves to pursuing relationships with others, all the while knowing that pain is just around the corner.

We all are like Edward Scissorhands. We all have the deadly remains of sin residing in our being and the closer we get to others the greater the inevitability of slicing them becomes a reality. Like Edward, we sometimes are not even trying to hurt others, and yet still we cut them deeply. We might even be attempting to help them and in the midst of that help, let them down.

We are forced to bring pain upon others and to bear pain from others if we desire to expose ourselves before a sinful world. We are also forced to do all we can to control these razor-sharp implements that are inseparable from our person while we are here on this earth. The greatest mistake one can make is to pretend they don't have scissorhands. The wisest thing one can do is to love those who do.  

© Richard J. Vincent, November 27, 1997