Update:
I spent the morning at my
church office doing some on-line research for a replacement for the company
that provides our phone tree service. Our current provider is going out
of business and I think I’ve found a replacement finally.
I had an appointment with
my physical therapist about walking “off-road” in uneven terrain. I was
concerned that I was using the wrong technique—and it turns out I was!
I’ve been trying to clinch all of my leg muscles every step I took so I
wouldn’t get so much leg wobble if I stepped in a pothole, etc. As you
can imagine, it is hard to keep that up every step that you take walking in the
woods. Randy, my PT, told me to relax and allow a bit of movement.
It is kind of hard for me to explain the difference in technique. Maybe
it would be similar to having your foot ready to apply the brakes and riding
the brakes where your foot is always already on the pedal. Randy wants me
to just spend more time practicing while keeping my head up and not be so
focused on the ground. He also wants me to practice walking in gravel or
rocks. A lot of what he was telling me is learning to trust my leg and my
body to do their jobs and to not try to micro-manage. I walk well on the
flat, and level ground and I have good muscle strength so all I need to some
practice to become confident in rougher terrain. Well, okay then.
Here we go!
I picked up my dry cleaning
(got to have a suit for next week’s wedding I’m performing and picked up a few
items at the grocery store as well. By the time I got the groceries in
the house and put away it was time for dinner.
After dinner with Karen, I
ironed some clothes and then rode along with a police officer in my role as
Chaplain. It was a rather quiet ride; but a good time to catch up with
the officer that I hadn’t ridden with for months. The toughest part of
getting back in the cycle of riding with police officers is that most of the
time I ride is late at night. Since my operation back in December, I have
found that I need more sleep and I am not used to staying up past 10:30
p.m. So getting acclimatized takes a bit more effort than it used
to. So far I am just staying out to about midnight. Next week I
have one ride scheduled that I won’t get done until 2 a.m. That means I
won’t get into bed before 3 or 3:30 a.m. I don’t think that I’ll get up
at 4:30 a.m. with Karen the next morning; I’ll sleep in instead.
I am beginning to have some
slippage issues with my prosthesis again due to my continual weight loss.
Knowing today is Friday makes it a bit trickier. It is not too bad today;
by tomorrow it could have changed and be drastically worse. My prosthetic
lab is closed over the weekend, so if anything is going to be done before next
week, it has to be done in the next few hours. It is noticeable but not
too bad right now. I wish I knew how fast things would change in the next
few days—it would make it easier to decide.
Thought for the Day:
In the well-known biblical story of the Prodigal Son, almost everyone
knows about the younger son who took his share of the family’s wealth and
squandered it on sinful choices and ended up destitute. His pitiful condition made him appreciate how
good he had it when he lived at home in a relationship with his father. This son humbled himself and returned home
asking forgiveness and asked just to be treated like a servant because he
deserved no better. The father welcomed
him back into the family as a son.
What we often miss is the older brother’s reaction to all of this. He was upset by the father accepting his
brother back. I guess that his attitude
is understandable. His brother already
had taken his share of the estate and squandered it. Now he is back and nibbling into the older
brother’s share. So it is costing the
older brother some of “his” wealth.
Dad’s not even dead yet and the siblings are squabbling over how the property
is going to be divided. I’ve heard the
justification of the older brother in families today, “Well he was around and
helped dad every day. He deserves a
bigger portion of the estate, then the kids who just came back to see dad once
every year or so.” That may be true—but
wasn’t good is the attitude that the older brother had developed.
He was so upset that he wouldn’t even claim the younger son as his
brother. “This son of yours…” You can hear the anger dripping off these
words! The older son then went down a
laundry list of what a good son he had been.
He did everything the father wanted.
He stuck around and did the heavy lifting. Bravo!
But one of the things that developed in his heart was a bitter coldness. He became a legalist who followed the rules
but burned in his heart with frustration and anger because dad never threw him
a party! BUT…the younger son returns
home and all is forgiven and a giant celebration is given in his honor. The older brother is upset because, in his
own mind, he had never failed his father.
He obeyed him to the letter. He
developed a sense of moral superiority and self-righteousness. He lost a sense of mercy and joy in
serving. He did what dad wanted out of
duty and obligation along with an expectation of recognition and appreciation
for what he had done for dear old dad.
His poor attitude fully blossoms at his brother’s return.
Yep! Sometimes we overlook the
fact that although the story is called, “The Prodigal Son” that there are
actually two prodigals. One physically
left the family and the other mentally had strayed away. The younger son came to his senses and
returned asking forgiveness which he received in abundance. The story ends without the older brother
finding and granting forgiveness. We’re
left hanging and never know if he made the right choice or if he held onto his
mistaken sense of self-righteousness until the day of his death. Stubborn pride can keep us locked up in a
prison of our own making at times.
The bible is clear that the real story that we should see is that this
earthly father represents our Heavenly Father and that either one or the other
brother represents us. We learn that
there is nothing that we do that will keep God Our Father from accepting us
back and granting full forgiveness if we turn back to Him. We also learn that He wants those of us who
have stuck around and been obedient (at least outwardly) to be accepting and
gracious to those who have failed. God
wants us to lose the self-righteous attitude and love Him and our brothers and
sisters in Christ.
I’d encourage you to read the biblical account of this story in Luke
15:11-32 and then spend some time thinking about which brother most closely
represents you—and what do you need to do about it.
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