It has been a frustrating couple of days for me—and not for any reason you might expect.
I have not been upset by anything that I read on social media or seen on the local news. Our cultural issues or the economy’s performance are not on my mind this week anymore than normal. My teenage children have been remarkably helpful and Jennifer is doing great (her back is feeling much better). Like I said, the things that is frustrating me is something you would not expect. So here it is: I cut my finger on Tuesday.
Yes, you read that right. . . I cut my left thumb on Tuesday afternoon and it has been very frustrating to deal with. Let me explain:
Around 4:00pm I was at home when I started to feel ’snacky.’ I knew that dinner was soon, and I was planning to get started on the preparation in about an hour. But before I started cooking, I noticed that my tummy was 'grumbling.’ So off to the fridge I went to find something to eat. Not wanting to spoil my supper, I took out a block of pepper jack cheese and set it on my cutting board. This would be my snack. I retrieved my blue knife from the drawer that I use for cutting cheese and removed the sheath from it. The package of cheese was still sealed and so I took the knife, put some gentle pressure on the package to expose the seam, and slid the knife quickly across the wrapper to ’slice’ it open. I have done this dozens of time without incident. It worked! The package was open . . . But it also sliced open the outside of my left thumb near the nail wide open.
I dropped the knife onto the counter, gritted my teeth, and reached for a cloth to apply direct pressure on the cut. I would not need stitches but I knew that it would bleed a lot. Shaking my head I thought, ‘you idiot, you know better than that. What would you scoutmaster say.’ (He would roll his eyes and chastise me for poor knife safety).
JonMark helped me clean up my finger over the sink. He tightly affixed a bandaid on my thumb to stop the blood. I was so annoyed by the whole event. How am I going to prepare raw meat for coking with an open cut on my thumb that is pulsating and bleeding? I may not be left-handed normally, but I do favor it when I cook. This was going to be an issue.
Well I am still here. I didn’t starve to death because of a cut on my finger. Dinner was prepared and consumed, and life is still moving onward. Expect… I have a bandage on my left thumb that makes doing easy things much harder. Like I said, I am not left-handed but there are certain things that I that my left thumb needs to do that it cannot do for now.
For instance, cracking an egg to for breakfast is normally done by pressing your thumbs into the cracked shell. Well, when you can’t use both of your thumbs to do it, that tasks is considerably harder. After I crack the shell I have to turn the egg over and open it upside down so that I can use my index fingers and not my thumbs.
Putting on a belt is much hard when you can’t pull with your left hand fully because again, as is tying your shoes. I need my thumb and I can’t use it right now because if I do, then I will break off the scab and it will bleed. I have been forced to live at a different pace of life and it is frustrating for me.
This makes me wonder about the little things that frustrate us so much. . . The minor thing. . . The seemingly insignificant thing that I do in my day that alters how I live my life. I wonder if when, as a Christian, you cut your spiritual finger what behaviors and choices do you have do make differently? I wonder if God might be offering you a chance to slow down, live differently for a little while?
Perhaps like me, you might find some room to life faithfully in a different way. . .
Blessings
Rev. Derek
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