"In the camp, I was forced to work under the ground in a mine. The labor was hard, and our guards were without sympathy or human decency. One day, in the mine, there was an accident. My back was injured, and since that day I have been a hunchback."
"One day," the letter continued, "there was a boy who would not stop staring at me. 'Mister,' he asked, 'what do you have on your back?'
"I was sure that some harsh joke at my expense was coming, but nevertheless I said, 'a hunchback?'
"The child smiled warmly. 'No,' he said, 'God is love. He gives no one deformities. That is not a hunchback you have; it is a box below your shoulders. Hiding inside the box are angels' wings. One day, the box will open, and you will fly to heaven with your angel wings.'
"I began to cry for joy. Even now," the letter concluded, "as I write to you, I am crying."
Many persecuted Christians bear the marks of their experience on their bodies. Sometimes God must remind them, even through the voice of an innocent child, of the hidden blessings beneath these scars.
There is only one reminder of earth in heaven. Jesus, even in his resurrected body of glory, still bears the scars of his own persecution. Jesus showed his scars to the disciples soon after his resurrection. Thomas touched the wound in his side and the scars on his hands. One day, his nail-scarred hands will embrace us, too, when we enter heaven. They will serve as a loving reminder of the blessings brought forth from his sufferings. However, the scars from our own difficult lives will be erased in our new, heavenly bodies.
Those who have endured sufferings, insults, and injustices for his sake will exchange their scars, one by one, for God's richest blessings.
(Exert from Voice of the Martyrs)
