Update:
I spend from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Friday at my office. I had taken lunch with me so I never left the
building. It is the first time I’ve
spent the entire day at the office since last November. I got tons of things done but boy was I whipped
when I got home.
Karen and I ate dinner together and then I crashed into the recliner
until bedtime (which came a little earlier than normal). I feel much more energetic this morning after
a night’s rest and look forward to getting outside the warm sunshine this
afternoon.
Today, I’ve got to do some prep work for the Baccalaureate Service we
are holding at our church on Sunday night, fold my laundry and do some ironing,
get my exercises done, and do a little work on my prosthetic leg.
Right now there is a squeaking noise when I walk. The prosthetist thought that putting a small
spacer on my pin would stop the noise.
She gave me a spacer for each of my silicone liners (I have two so I can
alternate days wearing them). I was told
if one spacer didn’t work, then put both of them on one liner and see if that
works. Since one spacer didn’t work, I’ve
got to go find a pair of pliers (garage or basement) and then work the spacer
back off the pin and then put both of them on the one liner and see if it
works. So I’ve got to get dressed and
put my leg on, go find the pliers and any other tools that I think I need, take
my leg off, move the spacer, and then put my leg back on. Things are much more complicated and take a
lot more energy than they used to take.
If all of that doesn’t take care of the noise problem, then I’ll have to
make an appointment and go into the prosthetic lab next week.
I might have to go there anyway because I’ve been having a bit of pain
in my leg over the last couple of days. It
may need some additional padding in a place or two to relieve it. I truly am a work in progress!
I’ve got to run into town to pick some supplies up for church in the
morning and I might try to go see the kids’ new apartment while I’m in town.
If I have enough time and energy I may move the ATV out of the garage
and into the storage shed. That way
sometime next week, I have a clear shot to get my motorcycle out for a ride. Looking forward to that!
This evening, Karen and I plan on spending time together relaxing after
dinner. That sounds nice too!
Thought for the Day:
On the best days, life on earth is beautiful and refreshing. Today the sun has finally broken through the
clouds and rain that have plagued us for a couple of weeks. It looks gorgeous outside. The grass is finally starting to turn
green. I cannot wait to go outside and
enjoy the day. But there is also a
darker side to nature: storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, earth quakes, droughts
and floods.
In a similar vein, human interaction can be beautiful and
enjoyable. Spending time can be such a delight
and enrich our souls. But at times,
human interaction shows a darker side: anger, violence, murder, hatred, and
bigotry.
“Human beings were not created to experience death, pain, grief,
disappointment, ruptured relationships, disease, and natural disasters. The world we were made to live in was not
supposed to be like that.” Our world is “a
broken world, in which things do not function as they should, and that is why
there is evil and suffering… this judgment does not represent God’s abandonment
of us. Rather His judgment of the world
was purposeful… God judged the world ‘in
hope’ of a final redemption from evil that would be glorious… Nevertheless, for the present, we live in the
shadows.” [Timothy Keller, Walking With
God through Pain and Suffering].
Romans 8:18-21 “For I
consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with
the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of
God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not
willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation
itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom
of the glory of the children of God.” (ESV)
Our world changed and the existence that we were designed to experience was
altered when sin entered the world. The
perfect way of life that occurred in the Garden of Eden prior to sin, was
forever altered. This mixed bag of happy
and sad as well as good and evil is as good as we can currently expect. But there is a coming day when everything
will be renewed and restored to its original design.
After experiencing the “almost good” of our current life; life in the world
to come will be glorious and perfect. We
will be in awe of how wonderful it is when things are set right and everything
has been restored.
All this theology helps me understand why things are the way they are
today. It allows me to cope with the
constant shift between beauty and goodness to ugly and evil. It helps me to understand what I know to be
true deep within my core: that the innocent shouldn’t suffer; children shouldn’t
die from cancer; no one deserves to watch a family member fade away with Alzheimer’s;
tornadoes shouldn’t kill and create havoc; and people shouldn’t treat other
people in the wicked way that they do; etc.
We were created for something far different from what we are currently
experiencing. For all of its beauty and
joyfulness; this world is wrong. It is
sick and broken and needs to be redeemed and recreated to be set right. And God has a plan to do that.
As much as we strive through selfless sacrifice, laws and social norms to
right the wrongs of this world we will never create the utopia that we long
for. Some things are just not repairable
in our own power. We should work
constantly for a more just society and to treat others with respect and
dignity; but only God has the power to set things completely right.
I look forward to that day. But
until it comes, I will enjoy whatever goodness can be had in this life. I will seek to be an agent of good and to
bring hope to those without it. I will
do everything that I can to make a difference in the lives of those around
me. But I will look forward to the day
of redemption in complete trust and faith in the One who created it all.
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