I am increasingly convinced that it is possible to live the wounds of the past not as gaping abysses that cannot be fulfilled and, therefore, keep threatening us as gateways to new life. The “gateless gate” of Zen and the “healing wounds of Christ” both encourage us to detach ourselves from the past and trust in the glory to which we are called. — Henri Nouwen

The wounds of the past may loom
as “gaping abysses that cannot be fulfilled.”
Unfulfilled they lead to doom.
By entering Zen’s “gateless gate,”
and embracing the “healing wounds of Christ,”
we may let go of the past and the self-hate
projected on others with merciless branding,
but then live in the bliss of
of peace and mutual understanding.