Sick


I hate being sick. The snot fills my brain so my synapses seems to fire a little slower. The cough makes me walk a little slower. My ears make me want to scratch like a cocker spaniel. And still, I go to work and try to pretend I am not sick, trying to work at the same intensity and pace, thinking only that when I get to the couch at home I can pass out.


This, and the book I am reading, started me thinking about sin. Being sick physically reminds me of my spiritual sickness. I try the medications of the world-denial, avoidance, justification, rationalization. Sometimes they take my mind off the symptoms for long enough to let me forget that I have an underlying disease (or dis-ease, if you will). Other times I have taken the medicine of religion-intellectualism (venial vs. mortal) and works (say 10 Hail Mary's and meditate on the Sorrowful mysteries). I have tried willpower, positive thinking, no thinking, staying away from people/places/things, prayer, Prayer and PRAYER. But No One seemed to be listening, tho today I suspect it was because I wasn't listening and I just wanted out of the problem, not to need change.


Mom's recommendations for a cold: rest, lots of liquids, and chicken soup. Interestingly, I can find the same goes for my soul. REST in God. My sofa is comfy but not comforting. My husband knows me but may hold things against me. I cannot fix what ails me, but God can. If I place myself in God's care & my trust in God's timing, long lasting change is possible. But if I seek my rest in the world, substitution for my original problem is all I can find.


LOTS OF LIQUIDS, LOL ok, what I think of here is the flushing of one's system, purging. I have always told my son, often to eye rolling, that what he watches and listens to and reads and looks at, becomes part of his spirit and thus is reflected in his person. I think Paul said it better: "...whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." (Phi 4:8 ESV) When I change what I took into my spirit, what comes out also changes. There is a purging that may need to take place, a changing if focus, a letting go of something. That's ok. There is always something better that God will place in our path to replace it if we so choose.


CHICKEN SOUP, warm, salty, easy. These are words I think about with chicken soup. When I accepted the infusion of God's spirit, I became warmed, and parts of me, long dead and cold, were rewarmed. The salt has added flavor to my life. Once it was "just another day," but now I never know what God may have ahead for me. It is an adventure. And this way of life is easier. Yes, sometimes it is stranger and often times scarier, but that is just because it is different. If I want to believe it is too hard, it will be, but if I choose to have the perspective of an adventure with friends near to guide me, it is merely a party.


Ok, now that we did this little thing, I need some rest, liquids and chicken soup. Going back to bed! (BTW "Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com" )

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