SHEsaysWITHaSMILE.blogspot.com

Quality of Life Threatening Clogs -as considered by (me!) -tops

but this is the combination which inspires this current blog post.

1.   Seeing a Roto Rooter truck parked in front of our neighbors home

2.  A very recent conversation with my dad, where he shared he'll be having a very thorough, in fact, the most extensive/thorough medical screening available on the market today   -and, he was asking my permission really,  -to share the details with me.    i remember learning about these screenings on charlie rose,  -remember i used to watch every. single. episode.    -and there were big questions, debates going on many years ago..     i.e., "do you want to know in advance if you show strong indicators for alzheimers?   how far in advance would you want to know about a disease for which there is no cure?"

    -to the extent these reports pretend to know your future..    see James 4:13-

/and consider how many people we lost to the recent covid pandemic; on what report was this forecast?

    -but there are no easy answers here..    to each individual; their own..

but, my immediate response to my dad's question was   "yes.  sure.  it is only a flesh report..."

i'm about to be very blunt and candid here:

well, i'll soften it after all... but, i.e., again..    my greatest suffering came from PTSD..    there is not a screening that will let you know you are going to be kidnapped at gunpoint and raped    -only screenings which may indicate conditions that will prolong or shorten the duration/intensity once you do..

let's say the young beautiful woman from Pleasanton, Kate Steinle, 

let's say her father had one of these extensive screenings...  let's say Kate did, in her 20's, or when she turned 30...

the flesh report can tell one person, whether or not they have indicators for alcoholism..  but there is no report to prepare the family who has their innocent family member killed by a drunk driver.

you see my point?    we are flesh AND SPIRIT.   i've really been able to put into perspective, to my own satisfaction, this distinction.

and i'm fascinated by how, while our physical (flesh) bodies become weaker with age.. (natural..  vs. injuries in our youth  -which further makes my point), but.. at the same time, our physical bodies weaken with age..   not running as fast, not lifting the same amount of weight, not taking stairs as fast, and then not at all..  requiring walking aids..  chairs/beds that auto lift.. 

at the same time those things can be taking place.. our spirits can and do, become stronger.   we forgive more quickly; we are not offended as easily, we can love more deeply, we can be more sensitive to beauty...  wisdom, discernment, trusting ourselves; our intuition, the knowledge we have accumulated..

it is described perfectly in the Bible:

2 Corinthians 4:16

Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

and i've said more than once..  who I am today, my daily activities, way of thinking, processing, living, people i surround myself with, etc.,    everything has much more to do with being a Christian, than any connection to past relatives/nationality/race.     -dna/ancestry; flesh reports; not spirit..    and dna has earned far more credibility for me personally than ancestry once you have exposure to how easily errors occur

there are obvious benefits to medical/flesh reports, where we can use the knowledge (when accurate) to help us prevent... prepare for,  manage..  or avoid...   illnesses/disease/injury

but our personal value systems, moral compass, intuition, wisdom, discernment, ability to love, to forgive..    handle betrayal..   our motives...

our exposure to; understanding of; the fruits of the spirit, and ability to learn, manifest:  love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control    <---------    medical screening? dna? ancestory?

and i happen to see the roto rooter truck write around the same time i learned about a friend who was processing a pretty big trauma..    and i'm sure i've used the vocabulary before:   spiritual plumbing.

we all need spiritual plumbing   -and a type of spiritual roto rooter for yucky build up, and clogs..

and from my personal experience, 

well, when your sink is clogged you know write away because the water doesnt drain..  and all is well when the water drains easily and consistently

but clogs of a spiritual nature...

blood clots; easy to identify:  flesh

unforgiveness...   hate...   anger...  fear...   broken heart..   hard heart...  cold heart.... these are yucky build ups of the spiritual kind..  and left untreated..  major quality-of-life clogs

those clogs prevent us from experiencing things like, love, joy, peace, patience... trust.. faith and hope

spiritual things are not x-rayable; there are no blood or urine or spit samples..

we can only know by sober assessment of our own inner-person; interpreting  how we 'feel' on the inside; no doubt reflected in our daily behaviors, decisions..

and, 

having healed now from multiple traumas; from PTSD..   having survived the pit; the wilderness (Biblical terms)

  -if i looked on the outside, by physical/flesh appearance as good as i feel on the inside!

but, 

i am 55...   i see in the mirror, on the outside...    wrinkles, age spots, gravity, gray hair (crown of splendor!)

    -among the funniest things on aging Dr Maya Angelou ever wrote:    something about how it felt like her breast were racing to see which one could get to her waist the quickest.    

anyway..

it is true for me, for certain..    outwardly i am wasting away...  inwardly; i am very renewed each and every day.   if an x-ray could show it... you'd see head to toe gratitude; everywhere in my entire body.

i havent met a woman who doesnt wish she could look amazing all the time, forever...

but, 

having had a young body, but traumatized inward...

what's going on on the inside is the more important of the two.

my spirit flows so freely; so freely!   and, i can catch very early..  i can know when yucky arrives, and address it before it turns into quality-of-life threatening clog.

        -and i am enormously grateful!  in Jesus trustworthy name   -hallelujah & amen

2 Corinthians 4: 6-

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.  We are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.  We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.  For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body.

So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. 

posted by SANDRA HARRISON KAY @ 10:17 AM