I remember when we lived in Nebraska. I would walk Princess Leia past the Sellon’s house each night, and Joedy would prophetically call out to me chuckling, “ Hey, who's walking whom?” Fast forward to 2020. Yes, our princess has always been a powerful walker, but when I stepped out onto the front porch on July 6th, the morning of my 55th birthday, I'm not sure what happened. Was it a squirrel? Was it a chipmunk? We just don't know. What I do know though, is that Princess Leia and her leash went in one direction, and alas, my finger went the opposite way. There are many funny parts to this story like how the guys in the emergency room really liked the challenge of getting my wedding rings off of a swollen, broken finger. Or how they thought it was a cussing contest when the colorful language kept erupting from my mouth during the previously stated “ring removal” game, and they would swear back at me. But there is more to this story...
Yesterday, I was prepped for surgery to screw the bones in my finger back in the right places, and I waited for three hours in a little stall behind the operating room. No iphone, no book- just sitting there, waiting, praying and listening. I tried not to listen, but I couldn't help it really. Nurses, doctors and anesthesiologists paraded through the patient rooms asking all of us the same questions, and I was struck by this deep sadness as I heard all of my fellow patients tell their stories of brokenness. I always try to find the humble humor in my own narratives of klutziness and impulsivity. Other patients answered the questions and shared their stories of how they became broken- addiction, loss, conflict and fear. Yesterday, I felt exposed and alone. They must have too. I wanted to reach through our rotational curtain and just hug their brokenness whole, but I sat there and prayed for each one of them. I looked down at my crooked finger and was reminded that all of us are broken in visible and invisible ways. I was moved to take my attention from my own selfish and petty pain and focus more on sending love to the others around me.
And maybe that is just what the world needs now is a little love.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv7jI5ACHCw
