Skip to main content

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day...

            Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.      (I Chronicles 16:34)        


            A week from now is Christmas. As week ago, I began saying, “Am I coming down with a cold? Nahhh.” Four days ago, I admitted that I had a cold. Mark Twain supposedly said that visitors are like fish. After three days, both stink. I’m either on day four or day seven. That means it’s like one of Alexander’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Days… except it’s not. It’s more like being pecked to death by ducks. Every “bite” is insignificant – more an irritation than an injury. Perhaps almost every bite. There choir’s anthem tomorrow is a song I wanted to sing. It’s not likely to happen. That bite hurts.

            It's 4 pm and I was supposed to have this blog written this morning (yesterday to you.) But I don’t even have a passage from Scripture. And part of me says that I should be writing something upbeat about next year. It’s “bad business” to be down in the mouth. Another part of me says “Be vulnerable. Everyone has bad days.”

            But it’s not a bad day. I’ve gone to work feeling worse than I feel. I’ve led worship with laryngitis. It’s not like I have COVID, or Cancer, or Rabies. But… fish and guests. So I wonder what Jesus would think of my illness and my attitude. I’m not demon possessed. I’m not at death’s door. I haven’t suffered with my problem for 12 or 38 years. It’s just a stupid head cold, and I’m old enough now that my body doesn’t kick them out the door on day three.

            I gave myself permission to putter for the past several days, but… guests and fish. So now I’m whimpering and wishing someone would give me a bowl of chicken soup, but knowing that I’d be embarrassed if they did. I don’t need no stinkin’ soup. What I need is a TARDIS so I can suffer to my heart’s content without losing time.

            But that’s not the way God works, and when it comes down to it, I may grumble and growl, but I know God is good and his way is best. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more