being sick

being sick levels the playing field.

on monday i came down with a no-name virus. it doesn't carry quite the sympathy of strep or the flu, but it kept me on the couch for a week and my throat still hurts. each morning i woke early to write lesson plans only to discover that i was supremely exhausted, and had to rest again. and that was how each day went, teaching the accomplisher within to settle down and chill.

a reminder that said, "no, you can't do this on your own. you can't get everything done. and yes, let people help you." so went the week, with colleagues helping in numerous ways at work in my absence, and scott tenderly helping me at home.

its hard to be sick, to face a truth that is easier to ignore when we are well. that is that we are limited creatures greatly in need of help.

by thursday i had improved enough to read, so i embarked on lewis' the last battle. i never realized that it won the carnegie award, the highest honor for british children's literature. i hadn't read it since childhood myself, but quickly became caught up in lewis' story of the world's end and the fight of the remaining faithful to Who they knew to be true while so many others were tricked or deceived. revelation come alive.

though king tirian and his unicorn, jewel, weren't sick, they found themselves in great need and cried out to the God he'd never seen and yet believed for help.

and help came.

and hope came.