13 days ago, well 13 days, 8 hours, and 10 minutes ago, I tried to lift a heavy object. I thought I was attempting the lift safely. My back was straight. My feet were planted shoulder wide and firm. Everything was in place, or so I thought at the time.
As I took a deep breath and pulled, the strain engaged every muscle. I pulled hard, quickly reaching the point where nothing moved. My slow exhale set the stage for a deeper effort. I thought success was close. The sharp crack in my knee told me something else.
In retrospect, the moment was a milestone. I would have been able to make the lift in my earlier years. More importantly, I doubt I would have injured myself. As it was, it hurt. It was not a cut I know you will hurt for a bit type pain. It was a deep I am not going anywhere thing.
Yesterday marked an appointment to have a specialist. As I anticipate the moment, it was easy to assume the worst. The obvious factors of age, circumstance, and experience each reminded me of the possibilities (bad of course).
As I role the Harley to the office, I realized that appointments were like every ride. Anything might happen. What I needed most was an informed opinion. There was a link to appointments of all kinds. Metaphorically, we follow an old model where a core question is one of openness. In one meeting in Rome, “they agreed on a time. When the day arrived, they came back to his home with a number of their friends. Paul talked to them all day, from morning to evening, explaining everything involved in the kingdom of God, and trying to persuade them all about Jesus by pointing out what Moses and the prophets had written about him.” (Acts 28.23)
Was I willing to be open? Did I want to hear? Would I listen?
Like most appointments, yesterday was not the end, just the beginning. There are troubling signs. More information is needed. The conversation continues.
