the stages of a cold

I have been living with a stupid, nasty cold for 10 days now. I suppose the fact that it is still partying in my body means that it is perhaps not so stupid and in fact pretty smart. But I still maintain that is it nasty! Whatever the case, over the course of the last week and a half I have observed a few different stages that I have gone through with this cold.

1. Denial. It is just a wee scratchy throat. It will probably be gone by morning. I'll just ignore it.
2. More Denial. It's been a few days and I am starting to cough, so I think that's a sign that it is almost over.  I am sure I will feel much better tomorrow. And besides, I can pretty much function as normal.
3. Impatience. Why is this taking so long? It's been a week and I should be feeling better! It is interfering with my life. (At this point I started asking for helpful suggestions to get rid of the thing).
4. Anger. Okay, that's it! I have had enough. This sucker is done! (I bought cough syrup and cold medicine and started stuffing it down my throat).
5. Disappointment. I can't sleep! I don't feel any better! Why isn't this medicine working? Everything is useless.
6. Make a plan. So the cold medicine is keeping me awake at night and not really helping. I'll forgo all the medicine and change my diet. No dairy products (which feed the phlegm) and no sugar (which feeds the bacterias and viruses). Just clear liquids, fruit, and vegetables.  And I'll go to bed earlier.
7. Small improvements.  I got good night's sleep! I am not coughing as much! I have a bit more stamina! Yes, things are getting better!
8. Gratitude.  This morning, I noticed myself rejoicing over small things that I take for granted much of the time. Things like being able to sleep through the night, having energy to do my work, a clear head and mind, being able to walk without pain, a loving husband who forgives me for coughing on him at night, a shower in the morning, a beautiful home, a sunny day, fresh tomatoes, a glass of orange juice, clothes to wear... (and the list goes on and on).

I have done my share of praying during this cold. I asked God to heal me, to help me sleep, to take away the cough, to clear my head.  I whined, I complained, and I pleaded.  When nothing much seemed to change, I was disappointed that my requests went pretty much unanswered. Why would God let me suffer this long without loving intervention? It seemed cruel. This morning, I realised that my goal of 'feeling good' is perhaps not the same goal that the Lover of my soul has in mind. He always seems more concerned with things like character, maturity, patience, gratitude, and other things that, if they are truly real and present, should not be affected by any amount of suffering or inconvenience. In our weak moments, we see where our strength really lies. I hope that my strength does not depend on everything going well in my life. That would be a pretty shallow and temporary strength.

One of my strengths is a grateful and trusting heart. Today, I am trying to grow and nourish it. That means that I am even thankful for this cold which has shown me how ungrateful I can be.

Photos: Top - cold paraphernalia. Bottom - flower blooming this morning on my back porch... so pretty!

Names of God

The Hebrew word "YHWH" (read from right to left) This past Sunday I gave a talk on the Names of God, the beginning of a series on this topic. This first talk was to be a gentle introduction so I thought it wouldn't take too many hours of preparation. Well, I quickly discovered that the research is almost bottomless; every time I thought I had a somewhat definitive list of names, I found another source which added a few more or gave a different twist on some of the names I had already come across. After several hours I was getting overwhelmed by the sheer amount of data (and that was only looking at the Hebrew Bible). I wondered how I could present this to people in an orderly and accessible fashion and within a reasonable time frame. Not everyone is up for a 3-hour lecture crammed full of detail on a Sunday morning. So I took a break and spent a bit of time meditating on this problem and asking the Spirit for guidance. And then I thought that being overwhelmed by Go

it's a mad mad mad world (of theology)

The mad dash for the end of term has begun. I have finished all my required readings and have jumped into research reading. One of my papers is on the madness of theology (the correlation seems more obvious to some of us than to others). Truly inspiring stuff, I am finding. Let me share a few quotes here: There is a certain madness in Christianity – in a desert God who is jealous and passionate, in a saviour who speaks in apocalyptic terms, in a life of sacrificial love, in the scandal of particularity. In principle, a confessional theology should bear the mark of this madness, but the mark or wound must constantly be renewed. - Walter Lowe, "Postmodern Theology" in The Oxford Handbook of Systematic Theology , 2007. “In the Scriptures the odd phenomena constituting the ‘Kingdom of God’ are the offspring of the shock that is delivered by the name of God to what is there called the ‘world,’ resulting in what I call a ‘sacred anarchy.’ Consider but a sampling o

comedic timing

Comic by Joel Micah Harris at xkcd.com One of my favourite jokes goes like this: Knock, knock. Who's there? Interrupting cow Interrupting cow w--- Moooooooo!! Timing is important in both drama and comedy. A well-paced story draws the audience in and helps it invest in the characters, while a tale too hastily told or too long drawn out will fail to engage anyone. Surprise - something which interrupts the expected - is a creative use of timing and integral to any good story. If someone is reading a novel and everything unfolds in a predictable manner, they will probably wonder why they bothered reading the book. And so it is in life. Having life be predictable all of the time is not as calming as it sounds. We love surprises, especially good surprises like birthday parties, gifts, marriage proposals, and finding something that we thought was lost. Surprises are an important part of humour. A good joke is funny because it goes to a place you didn't expect it to go. Sim

outWORD by Matte Downey

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