Monday, 2/4/19 – Pressing on…

I remember how good it felt last winter when I came down with a miserable chest cold, stomach upset, cold chills and fever – oh, sorry… that wasn’t the good part. The good part was the comfortable resting in my big office recliner, drowsy with Tylenol but snug and cozy under a huge plush quilted comforter. The world and it’s problems spun someplace outside me, and I could do nothing to affect it. I was in a zone… a ‘sick’ zone, unable to ‘do’ anything. For me, now, Job #1 was rest and recovery. I had no say in it.

I remember another very good experience too, just after my mother had passed away. (Again, not the good part.) I was driving from Saskatoon to an interpreters’ conference in Vancouver. I was run down from all the recent stress and lost sleep. I stopped in to a medical clinic in Hope, BC to see if I could get some antibiotics. The doctor on duty prescribed me some meds, but noticing my emotional distress he asked if anything was upsetting me. After I shared with him about my mother’s recent death he asked, “What would your mother want you to do?”

This cast a whole new light on my despondency. I realized she would want me to find joy again, to carry on, and not become stalled by her passing. I have been grateful since to this man for his counsel and shared often this insight with others.

Finally, there was another incident where someone at my side supported me. There had been a mix up at work over some now long-forgotten happening. I was in the clear, but couldn’t evidence it. Thankfully another worker advocated on my behalf and the matter passed.

Three very good experiences indeed: comfort, counsel, and vindication. In the above instances the agents which brought these were a blanket, a doctor, and a co-worker. None of these were threatening; all of them were inviting.

How much more is the Holy Spirit all these things – our Comforter, our Counselor, our Advocate! Draw closer to Him today. He is the Great ‘Paraclete,’ the One called alongside us, our Helper.

More tomorrow…