Pain & Suffering

Romans 8:20-22 (King James Version)

20For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

21Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

22For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

I've had something called Occipital Neuralgia for the last few weeks. If you have read other posts in this blog you know that I should never EVER enter the medical field. I don't like pee, pooh, blood, throw up or even slobber. Here's something I can't deal with even more: pain and suffering. I hate it and have no patience for it.


The symptom of my condition is chronic headache. The pain is commonly localized in the back of head and around or over the top of the head. When I first started feeling it, I went to my chiropractor. Then I went to my regular physician. Then I went to the emergency room and got an MRI. Then I went to a spine specialist and got xrays. I went all of these places in a few weeks just trying to get rid of this pain and suffering. The spine specialist finally diagnosed it. He said to me " I know it's been three weeks and that seems like a really long time when you can't get rid of it but looking at the big picture, the honest truth is that this pain will most likely go away soon!" I said " I guess I just don't have much patience with burning stabbing constant pain in the back of my head." He said "I wish I could just clap my hands and you would instantly feel better." I laughed and answered "well that's what I expect, doc!"

If you really want to know about pain and suffering and how much people deal with, go anywhere around older people. It makes me feel so spoiled that my pain makes me so impatient when I think of my mom. She had a stroke three years ago and there's so much pain and suffering involved in that and nobody claps their hands to make it go away. Like lots of other people with pain and suffering,it's not going to go away until they die. It makes it impossible for them to do anything on their own. They have suffering that makes them so depressed they want to die. My mom just keeps on keepin on! She just enjoys the few things she can enjoy. She just continues to smile and care about others. Every night she prays for others and there's a really long list! It must take her at least an hour! Mom says " I pray for them every night!" I say "there sure are lots of people on that prayer list!" She prays for people in our family who are suffering, she prays for her friends who are ill or grieving, she prays for my marriage, my children, my job and of course she prayed that I would get rid of occipital neuralgia. There she lays with her one hand curled up and useless from her stroke. There she lays in her bed where she can't even turn over by herself. There she lays in pain every night, praying for everyone else. Lots of people suffer with pain. Jesus suffered a lot. He suffered emotionally and physically. I could use some improvement on dealing with it. Nobody gets through life on earth without it. How we react to it, defines our character.

How many ways can we lose our teeth???

Little old ladies aren't all sweet.

People don't change that much just because they are old. They still have their faults. They still have their weaknesses. There's this one old lady Mom and I know that just isn't sweet. She has been married a number of times in her life. I don't know why it bothers us that she acts like she does. You know that girl in high school that goes around breaking boy's hearts just for the fun of it or at least it seems that way. She's that girl you knew who could charm the male teachers and all the other boys too but all the girls hated her. Why? I guess because we could see right through her! Or maybe we were just jealous of her and didn't want to admit it.
It's interesting to me that this particular girl is 80 years old and still going around breaking men's hearts, playing with people's emotions and annoying other women. She's 80 years old and she's still a man eater. This girl is still playing the same old high school games and it's still just as entertaining as it used to be. She's got men, pining all over the nursing home, she flirts, she conquers, she moves on to another sucker and there's one born everyday. Thank goodness she's got one of those motor scooter wheelchairs! She just leaves a trail of suiters where ever she goes. There are little old ladies who lie, cheat, steal, hate and hurt people just like young ladies do. It's not acceptable in our society to admit this because frankly we like to think all little old ladies are sweet. I'm not giving them a break. Little old ladies arn't all sweet.

What goes around!!!

Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
My mother has never been prejudice of anyone of a different race. In my family, we think being prejudice is not only ignorant but it's a sin. Of course, there are lots of folks who have held hatred for people of other races all of their life. Isn't it interesting that the very same people that they have been complaining about, calling names and putting down all their life are always the exact same people that they have to depend to care for them when they are old? They are the same red necks, wet backs, niggers,spics,yankees,slant eyed,gooks, jewish, coon asses, polacks, catholics, protestants and so on! When you are old and can't do anything for yourself, these people have to wipe your butt and feel compassionate toward you and treat you indiscriminatly. No one knows if these older residents feel sorry about their prior attitudes. So there is one thing to think about before you act intolerant, impatient or hateful toward someone. Someday when you are old, you may be dependent on their kindness.
"What goes around, comes around!"

I've got a Mansion just over the Hillside.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28. Mom says "You know why they call this a rest home?" she continuous "That's all people do here is rest!' Don't think that the Wesleyan doesn't have a full time activities staff, a full time physical therapy staff, a full time speech therapy staff and lots of volunteers that push, pull, coach, tempt, tug and literally beg the residents to do something else. Like most the residents, mom just likes to sit in her recliner and watch TV. Mom uses hand gestures when talking about PT, she holds up her hands and rolls little circles. "I saw you today!" Mom tells her friends, rolling the little cirles to indicate they were in the PT room together. Her friends reply by imitating riding a little tricycle with their feet. I try to remind them "Now come on, it's not so bad, if you don't use it, you lose it." This common declaration just gets the rolling of the eyes response. Why don't they like it? It could be that they never liked exercise, it could be that they tried it for awhile but didn't get any results quick enough. The reasons are as numerous as why younger folks do not work out. I've noticed Mom doesn't like games that children normally play. Mom refuses to get involved in anything like batting big rubber balls, painting by number or balloons. She liked Bingo when they gave away quarters. She had nothing to spend the quarters on but she liked to keep her winnings in her little black purse. "I don't want to play Bingo anymore because now they give away those stupid little stuffed animals." She tells her friend Lola, "and where am I going to put them anyway?" Everyone is not like Mom, many other residents like the games and many others like their stuffed animal winnings. They cuddle them and hang them on their wheel chairs as if they are trophies. "To each his own!" mom says, shaking her head "no" in stubborn protest as if to protect what dignity she has left as a sane adult. Some of the residents carry around life like looking dolls, treating them like real babies. People say that as you grow older, you become just like a child again. People have to change your diaper, bathe you, temper tantrums occur as well as crying and throwing up. It's cute when babies do it but not so pleasant for old people. The problem is they obviously don't feel like children. You can't run, jump and play with all that energy and curiosity. There is that mansion to think about,the one that everyone sings about. " It's just over the hillside, in that bright land where we'll never grow old." I often envision my mother and father smiling, singing, skipping and running up a hill covered in blue bonnets with a pail of cool clean water that they just collected from a beautiful rolling brook, just like Jack and Jill. Dad leans over and kisses her softly and says "I knew you would get here sooner or later!"