The story is told of an old man who went to the doctor complaining of a terrible pain in his leg. The ensuing conversation unfolded something like this:
“I am afraid it’s just old age”, replied the doctor, “there is nothing we can do about it.”
“That can’t be” fumed the old man, “you don’t know what you are doing.”
“How can you possibly know I am wrong?” countered the doctor.
“Well it’s quite obvious,” the old man replied, “my other leg is fine, and it’s the exact same age!”
For my part, I can relate to the preceding illustration on at least three counts. To begin with, I am becoming an old man. I turned fifty-five this year, technically becoming a senior adult in the process. What is more, my daughter and son in law produced for my wife and me our very first grandchild. I try not to think of myself as old; but these two factors mitigate heavily in favor of it.
Second, I have had more than one conversation with my doctor this week. And while I did not like what all he has had to say, I know that he is right in his opinion. Those conversations have all been about the fact that, third, I have been laid up the last few days with a major springtime cold.
In fact, this is the reason that I am a day late in posting my blog. In truth, this time yesterday, when I would normally have been blogging, I was zoned out on a combination of antibiotics and cough medicine. I will be again in short order. But I have postponed my prescribed daily dosage this evening long enough to compose a quick thought or two. Otherwise, once I swallow my meds, I will be drifting off into la la land.
Of course, spring and fall colds are nothing new for me. The older I get, the more I find myself affected by the change of seasons. The drastic temperature changes, compounded by high levels of pollen, mold spores, ragweed, and/or similar allergens, have begun to impact me severely - striking like clockwork each year around March/April and October/November.
It is for this reason that I am all the more thankful to live when I do and where I do. While sickness will always be a part of life in this world, it is a blessing to live in this modern day and age, when we understand not only what causes so many of the afflictions we face but also how these can be remedied. Our forebears must have suffered terribly from things that are, by comparison, mere annoyances to you and me today.
What is more, I have travelled enough of this world to know that, even now in the modern era, there are a great many places in this world where people do not enjoy the medical benefits that we so often take for granted right here in the good old USA.
Of course, no matter how good our system of healthcare is, illness will always be a part of earthly life. We live in a fallen world, and our physical bodies are frail and subject to bouts of sickness. Ever has it been since Genesis chapter three; and ever will it be in this world.
But I am thankful for the promise that there is coming a day when, as the Apostle Paul says in his first New Testament letter to the Corinthians (Chapter 15, verses 52-53), that:
“the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable will clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.”
And praise the Lord, in that time and in that place, there is laid up for us as believers a perfect body, one that will never be subject to ailment again.
As the gifted composer, Jim Hill, put it:
There is coming a day when no heartaches shall come
No more clouds in the sky, no more tears to dim the eye.
All is peace forevermore on that happy golden shore,
What a day, glorious day that will be.
Chorus
What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see,
And I look upon His face,
The One who saved me by His grace;
When He takes me by the hand
And leads me through the Promised Land,
What a day, glorious day that will be.
And whenever one is fighting a headache, sore throat, fever, and/or cough, as I have been doing over the last few days, the second verse has special meaning:
There'll be no sorrow there, no more burdens to bear,
No more sickness, no pain, no more parting over there;
And forever I will be with the One who died for me,
What a day, glorious day that will be.
Indeed, what a day, glorious day that will be!
STORY SOURCE:
http://www.funnp.com/jokes/funny_sick_jokes.html.
SCRIPTURE SOURCE:
http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/sounds/Hymns/what_a_day_that_will_be.htm.
“I am afraid it’s just old age”, replied the doctor, “there is nothing we can do about it.”
“That can’t be” fumed the old man, “you don’t know what you are doing.”
“How can you possibly know I am wrong?” countered the doctor.
“Well it’s quite obvious,” the old man replied, “my other leg is fine, and it’s the exact same age!”
For my part, I can relate to the preceding illustration on at least three counts. To begin with, I am becoming an old man. I turned fifty-five this year, technically becoming a senior adult in the process. What is more, my daughter and son in law produced for my wife and me our very first grandchild. I try not to think of myself as old; but these two factors mitigate heavily in favor of it.
Second, I have had more than one conversation with my doctor this week. And while I did not like what all he has had to say, I know that he is right in his opinion. Those conversations have all been about the fact that, third, I have been laid up the last few days with a major springtime cold.
In fact, this is the reason that I am a day late in posting my blog. In truth, this time yesterday, when I would normally have been blogging, I was zoned out on a combination of antibiotics and cough medicine. I will be again in short order. But I have postponed my prescribed daily dosage this evening long enough to compose a quick thought or two. Otherwise, once I swallow my meds, I will be drifting off into la la land.
Of course, spring and fall colds are nothing new for me. The older I get, the more I find myself affected by the change of seasons. The drastic temperature changes, compounded by high levels of pollen, mold spores, ragweed, and/or similar allergens, have begun to impact me severely - striking like clockwork each year around March/April and October/November.
It is for this reason that I am all the more thankful to live when I do and where I do. While sickness will always be a part of life in this world, it is a blessing to live in this modern day and age, when we understand not only what causes so many of the afflictions we face but also how these can be remedied. Our forebears must have suffered terribly from things that are, by comparison, mere annoyances to you and me today.
What is more, I have travelled enough of this world to know that, even now in the modern era, there are a great many places in this world where people do not enjoy the medical benefits that we so often take for granted right here in the good old USA.
Of course, no matter how good our system of healthcare is, illness will always be a part of earthly life. We live in a fallen world, and our physical bodies are frail and subject to bouts of sickness. Ever has it been since Genesis chapter three; and ever will it be in this world.
But I am thankful for the promise that there is coming a day when, as the Apostle Paul says in his first New Testament letter to the Corinthians (Chapter 15, verses 52-53), that:
“the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable will clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.”
And praise the Lord, in that time and in that place, there is laid up for us as believers a perfect body, one that will never be subject to ailment again.
As the gifted composer, Jim Hill, put it:
There is coming a day when no heartaches shall come
No more clouds in the sky, no more tears to dim the eye.
All is peace forevermore on that happy golden shore,
What a day, glorious day that will be.
Chorus
What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see,
And I look upon His face,
The One who saved me by His grace;
When He takes me by the hand
And leads me through the Promised Land,
What a day, glorious day that will be.
And whenever one is fighting a headache, sore throat, fever, and/or cough, as I have been doing over the last few days, the second verse has special meaning:
There'll be no sorrow there, no more burdens to bear,
No more sickness, no pain, no more parting over there;
And forever I will be with the One who died for me,
What a day, glorious day that will be.
Indeed, what a day, glorious day that will be!
STORY SOURCE:
http://www.funnp.com/jokes/funny_sick_jokes.html.
SCRIPTURE SOURCE:
http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/sounds/Hymns/what_a_day_that_will_be.htm.