There is not enough of an edge to pull out either way.
Being in my finger means that I only have the 5 other fingers on one hand to try to do the job of trying to grasp and remove this foreign object from inside my first line of defense for my body - my skin
I cannot do this job myself.
It is a relative simple job and will only take 10-15 min and the right tool(s).
But I cannot do it alone.
I need help from another.
I got so busy last night that the tiny pressure from the splinter, while mildly discomforting, was not enough to remind me to ask someone to help me.
It got put off and forgotten.
I woke up at 5 in the morning. Oh, my finger hurts. Why is that?
Oh yeah I forgot about that splinter
the offending object shoved into me
the small break off point of something I handled
remains lodged in me still
how I let things that happen to me
words that are said to me
actions of others that I experiece
get under my skin
lodge into me
remain with me long after I am no longer around that person or event
affecting me long after
It is when all is quiet and calm that the pain and pressure present themselves
perhaps this is why so many of us avoid the quiet and the calm?
It is 9 am now
there is a red area around the splinter about 1/4 inch in diameter
The pain is stronger now and not so easy to forget about
My body is trying to remain healthy
but this foreign object is fighting against that
a continual source of contamination as long as it is jammed inside of me.
It will still only take 10-15 min to remove
but now I had better use some antibacterial cream
and soak it in hot water a few times
to make sure the germs that are rapidly multiplying are vanquished
again the lesson - my body needs help and support from somewhere outside of itself
but now the amount of effort it will take to heal has gone up dramatically
With the passing of time and left untreated
this will turn into a trip to Urgent Care
the germs do not care about my scedule or the other plans I had for this time
they have their own agenda...
I am home alone
I have asked a friend and neighbor to help me
I am afraid others will be busy
will be annoyed at the interruption of my need
the claim my need will make on them
but it is a need
I must seek help
I need help
no matter how someone may respond or not respond
I must seek out assistance
Matthew 7:1-5J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
7 1-2 “Don’t criticise people, and you will not be criticised. For you will be judged by the way you criticise others, and the measure you give will be the measure you receive.”
3-5 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and fail to notice the plank in your own? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me get the speck out of your eye’, when there is a plank in your own? You fraud! Take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you can see clearly enough to remove your brother’s speck of dust.”
J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
J. B. Phillips, "The New Testament in Modern English", 1962 edition by HarperCollins
We all need help so be careful how you look at and treat others
How interesting
a splinter, a log, a plank, not just in my finger affecting what I can and cannot do but in my eye distorting how I see and view others and their words and actions
over time the body can build a callous around something and you no longer feel it anymore
it becomes part of you
Oh Lord, I see I see
I see how my own pride, my own self-pity, my own resentments, my own pain and insecurity have stuck into me
in my eye
twisting and distorting all I see and how I respond to others
the remnants of past wounds still remain to poison the present
Yet you tell me to remove my own splnter
in my eye no less!
HOW?
Maybe this means to come before you and let you show it to me, make me aware of it
but then ask you to remove it
Oh Lord, I need you
I need you so much
I need you to help me face the pain I bury
the hurts that have festered
there is nerve damage
I no longer feel or am aware of these splinters in my soul
until someone inadvertently hits one and WOW
such a reaction
they are confused
what I am saying and doing is so out of porportion to what they said or did
Why?
Oh Lord,
I need your healing touch in me
O Divive Doctor you
diagnose for your diagnosis is always spot on
peel back the layers of denial, anger, blaming and excusing
to cut to the core of the problem
my hurt and need of you
help me to not make excuse or blameshift
to lay still and quiet as you use your word (it is perfectly sterile and will not add in further contamination) to slice in
to grasp
to pull out
it is painful and humiliating
but oh what a relief
to see clearly
to understand truth in each situation and relationship
to be unencumbered to respond in love to what another needs
instead of reacting out of my____________
Matthew 7:7-12J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
7-8 “Ask and it will be given to you. Search and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened for you. The one who asks will always receive; the one who is searching will always find, and the door is opened to the man who knocks.”
9-11 “If any of you were asked by his son for bread would you be likely to give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish would you give him a snake? If you then, for all your evil, quite naturally give good things to your children, how much more likely is it that your Heavenly Father will give good things to those who ask him?”
12 “Treat other people exactly as you would like to be treated by them—this is the essence of all true religion.”
J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
J. B. Phillips, "The New Testament in Modern English", 1962 edition by HarperCollins
Matthew 6:22-23New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
22 “The eye is like a lamp for the body. Suppose your eyes are good. Then your whole body will be full of light. 23 But suppose your eyes are bad. Then your whole body will be full of darkness. If the light inside you is darkness, then it is very dark!
John 13 New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet
13 It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world. It was time for him to go to the Father. Jesus loved his disciples who were in the world. So he now showed them how much he really loved them.
2 The evening meal was being served. The devil had already tempted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon. He had told Judas to hand Jesus over to his enemies. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put everything under his power. He also knew he had come from God and was returning to God.
4 So he got up from the meal and took off his outer clothes. He wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a large bowl. Then he began to wash his disciples’ feet. He dried them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
6 He came to Simon Peter.
“Lord,” Peter said to him, “are you going to wash my feet?”
7 Jesus replied, “You don’t realize now what I am doing. But later you will understand.”
8 “No,” said Peter. “You will never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you can’t share life with me.”
9 “Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet! Wash my hands and my head too!”
10 Jesus answered, “A person who has had a bath needs to wash only his feet. The rest of his body is clean. And you are clean. But not all of you are.”
11 Jesus knew who was going to hand him over to his enemies. That was why he said not every one was clean.
12 When Jesus finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes. Then he returned to his place.
“Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord.’ You are right. That is what I am. 14 I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet. So you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have given you an example. You should do as I have done for you.
16 “What I’m about to tell you is true. A servant is not more important than his master. And a messenger is not more important than the one who sends him. 17 Now you know these things. So you will be blessed if you do them.
Susan! What a perfect reflection upon a splinter. How motivating to turn to God early to ask him to remove the wrong. Maybe even daily? Thank you for writing this.
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