NO REGRETS
I look at the calendar and I have not even the slightest sadness or regret that I'm not hunkered down preparing for a new school year at the seminary. It doesn't mean I'm not hunkered down, though. I'm still working hard on the church history text, and I have one final chance to look at "Leadership Reconsidered" before it goes to press.
Today, however, was for relaxation. We biked more than 20 miles, beyond Rockford and back (the longest I've gone since the dog bite), and then we spent some time this evening kayaking. Tomorrow we'll be spending much of the day with Son Carlton and granddaughter Kayla.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
A POOR CANDIDATE FOR TORTURE
As a church historian I know well the stories of torture and persecution--and not just way back in history. Such continues today. I've often wondered how faithful I would be in the face of torture. This morning I spent much of an hour contemplating that. I was scheduled for an MRI and learned after I was flat on my back on a metal table that the procedure takes about an hour. I never sleep on my back because of the discomfort it causes me---with my low back problems. Here I was unable to move for an hour, and to make matters worse something went wrong with one of the images so they had to leave me under the machine for anothr 10 minutes. I wondered how long it would take before I would deny the Lord just to be set free! The MRI was one more step in this long dog-bite ordeal. Hopefully, with the proper treatment, my leg will heal.
As a church historian I know well the stories of torture and persecution--and not just way back in history. Such continues today. I've often wondered how faithful I would be in the face of torture. This morning I spent much of an hour contemplating that. I was scheduled for an MRI and learned after I was flat on my back on a metal table that the procedure takes about an hour. I never sleep on my back because of the discomfort it causes me---with my low back problems. Here I was unable to move for an hour, and to make matters worse something went wrong with one of the images so they had to leave me under the machine for anothr 10 minutes. I wondered how long it would take before I would deny the Lord just to be set free! The MRI was one more step in this long dog-bite ordeal. Hopefully, with the proper treatment, my leg will heal.
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
SUMMER OF THE DOG BITE
I'm still "doctoring" with the dog bite. Yesterday my doctor prescribed another round of high-dosage antibiotics and pain pills for the shooting needle pain in my leg. He also has ordered an MRI through a local Wound Clinic, fearing that the infection might have gotten to bone. In the meantime I try to keep up on my writing. This will be forever in my memory as the summer of the dog bite--even as 12 years ago will never be forgotten as the summer of my mental illness, but that's another story. Actually I was functionally mentally ill (my own diagnosis; shrinks were not in the picture). I say that because I got a ton of work done (despite terrible depression and only 2-3 hours of sleep at night). That's a lot better than staring at walls and sleeping the months away as was the case with a friend. The cause of my depression? Everything that could go wrong seemed to go wrong all in the matter of a few months. So, it seemed circumstantial , but I believe it had a "clinical" side to it. As with most such depression that I've read about, it gradually went away as time passed (and as circumstances improved in the fall).
As bad as that time was, however, it was ho-hum compared to the terrible ordeal I more recently endured for 3 years, as I tell in "My Calvin Seminary Story."
I'm still "doctoring" with the dog bite. Yesterday my doctor prescribed another round of high-dosage antibiotics and pain pills for the shooting needle pain in my leg. He also has ordered an MRI through a local Wound Clinic, fearing that the infection might have gotten to bone. In the meantime I try to keep up on my writing. This will be forever in my memory as the summer of the dog bite--even as 12 years ago will never be forgotten as the summer of my mental illness, but that's another story. Actually I was functionally mentally ill (my own diagnosis; shrinks were not in the picture). I say that because I got a ton of work done (despite terrible depression and only 2-3 hours of sleep at night). That's a lot better than staring at walls and sleeping the months away as was the case with a friend. The cause of my depression? Everything that could go wrong seemed to go wrong all in the matter of a few months. So, it seemed circumstantial , but I believe it had a "clinical" side to it. As with most such depression that I've read about, it gradually went away as time passed (and as circumstances improved in the fall).
As bad as that time was, however, it was ho-hum compared to the terrible ordeal I more recently endured for 3 years, as I tell in "My Calvin Seminary Story."
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