Some curves are sharp.

How nice it would be if all the turns in our lives were curved slowly and securely to the banks of our river-of-life. But lately some streams seem to have a life of their own...stirring the mud and jabbing out into a fast moving current where I have little control.

Two years ago when I was 76, and feeling 56, one hit me hard. I went to the hospital with what I thought was appendicitis...eleven days later I emerged after a hysterectomy and the knowledge that I had been harboring a cancer in one of my ovaries.
That incident stretched over nearly two year...an adventure with chemo that took away the strength in my legs...hair loss (much more traumatic than I had expected) and a loss of recall..i.e. names and words that dropped out of my memory like dead leaves.
Then, while slowly recovering, we drove over a bump on Rte 70 and I received a sudden jab to my back, extending down my left leg and making it impossible for me to walk without support (a cane or crutches). We were headed for a cruise through the Panama Canal and I was unwilling to give up...so I hobbled along for over 8000 miles (that's the distance the boat traveled..not me)..from Miami to San Diego.

When we got home we joined a gym and I went to work trying to recover the lost strength by swimming up and down a warm pool. It helped until several sharp pains in my belly (which should have warned me) culminated in a hurried visit to another hospital..where they removed my gallbladder. Again, the weakness and frustration came...bearing me along this tide of misfortune..away from the comfort of my own strength and forcing me to depend on others. Gone were the hard-earned gains of leg strength...gone was the idea that hospital stays were quickly productive..gone forever.

But there is a scripture that rings in my head..It's the incident where Jesus heals the lepers..only He didn't heal them on the spot...Scripture says..."as they went they were healed" With that driving me, I've launched into more exercise, pushing myself into public occasions and familiar routines, and hoping that I will be healed as I go.

I'm also hoping that the currents that drive me in the future will have a more gentle nature..