I should be asleep, but my mind is going Britney on me and running a million miles a minute. I have my favorite CD in, which usually does the trick, but not tonite. My spiritual journey has been a bit bumpy the past few days. I had contemplated logging on a few days ago, but I was too humiliated. So, for all you sinners out there, I just want you to know that some days I feel like I am leading the pack. Of the seven deadly, I'm quite certain that I've committed at least 5 of them, and that is just this week.
Today my 4 year old daughter was playing spinal cord injury dog. We talk about spinal cord injuries a lot around here. Since we are both medical professionals and teaching faculty, Lee and I probably do a bit more explaining than is necessary for your average, say, 5 year old. Due to circumstance, they have met individuals with spinal cord injuries, so we explained to our kids...."hurt the big nerve in their back...can't move legs...sometimes arms...". We've used this as rationale for them not to jump on the bed and the reason we won't let them on our neighbor's trampoline. They were probably too little to remember Baby, my grandmother's Yorkshire Terrier, who was victim to a vicious attack at the jaws of my uncle's Chow, leaving her lame. Afterwards, for the last half of her life, Baby would drag around her back paws, side-winding and yapping. Her spinal cord was no match for the Chow's teeth.
My daughter is drawn to things that are small, cute & furry. So, when she saw the puffy little Maltese coming down the street pulling it's back legs on one of those doggie wheelchair/roller-cart thingies, she had to meet him. When she asked the owner what happened to the doggies feet, the owner kindly explained, "spinal cord injury". My daughter's eyes lit up like it was Christmas morning. She knew what that was. She knew other people who had similar injuries, but she never knew that dogs could suffer the same fate. The dog and owner walked/rolled away. While her brothers rode their bikes around her, she was down on all 4's barking and dragging one of her legs behind her. "What are you doing?" I asked her inquisitively. "I'm a spinal cord injury doggie" she responded. Throughout the afternoon her level of injury would migrate to a high cervical injury, leaving all of her limbs motionless except for a few involuntary spasms to a low thoracic injury where she could chase her brothers on 3 limbs, dragging her right leg behind her. Her oldest brother tried to offer her an antidote which would allow her to regrow her back paw (he was confusing the spinal cord injury wheeled dog with our neighbor's 3-legged wheeled dog). Imperfection is not an option for him. But, she was comfortable with her handicap, preferring her gimp paw to a newly regenerated one. Her brother, not understanding this, peddled off to play a Y-linked game he could digest, like secret spies; a game of absolutes and right and wrongs and no grays. She barked and wagged her tail, just happy to have 3 good paws.
Psalm 34:4, 8 "I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me, freeing me from all my fears...Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those that trust in him!"
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