I was so nervous that Doug might stumble, I surprised myself when I missed the curb . . . again.  

Sigh. 

I wacked my shin, skinned the old knee, and shook myself up pretty good. Not to mention Doug.  

Nothing broken — just shaken — I can hold a paint brush and a cup of coffee; just not at the same time. 

We were dodging  some empty trash and recycling bins and the ice by quickly stepping into a busy street, and then back on the sidewalk. “Quickly” being the wrong adverb for a seasoned citizen.

As I scrambled to right myself, grasping Doug’s kind hand,  and fretting I would pull us both into traffic, a stranger — maybe the owner of the offending bins—  stopped to help me recover my footing.  

from the Garden of Bright Images

A stumble, a fall —

that’s scarier now than any boogie man ever was. 

But, I got back on the horse, so to speak, and headed out for my evening constitutional this evening. However, this time I took a companion cane —just in case I had to hop a curb. 

Moving On

And I started listening to a NEW book — The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History by John M. Barry. Seems like that Spanish flu came from us . . . The author first describes the crazy history of medicine and then the founding of the John Hopkins  Hospital and university. Only just now getting to the pandemic, after a quick lesson on VIRUSES and why FLU is so deadly. — I’ll keep you posted! 

All I am sure of now is how much I do not know about anything!  

If it were not for this pandemic, I wonder if I would have devoted the hours to listening to so many voices? I think I said that before?

Recently I finished a biography of R.C. Sproul and am working through a good one on J.I. Packer. This summer, I read the first volume of Elisabeth Elliot’s life. 

Good grief 

I do know this: Christians can be a contentious lot! Not that these three admirable folks were combative archetypes; they were caught up in the conflicts in the church of their times.

Many of the conflicts grew from convictions about the relevance and reliability of the Bible — unlike today when Christians divide over the latest podcasts and internet discoveries. 

Oh my. A Little righteous anger is better than a double espresso. (Step By Step, p,66)

And many of their conflicts the biographers reported cooled warm friendships    — much like today’s conflicts.

 The biographies show me,  though, conflicts and divisions are not new.  (See Acts 15)

Serendipitously I listened to the sermon preached at Eagle Heights Presbyterian Church in Winchester Virginia on that conflict between Paul and Barnabas.  Please listen!

It was  a refresher course in PEACEMAKING offering some new lessons in reining in conflict:

Four Principles:  

1. Deal with each other face to face. (I knew that! )

2. Maintain respect for the one with whom you disagree. (Never question a man’s motives; question his judgements.  ~ Dwight Eisenhower)

3. Be careful when you judge between what is right and what is wrong.  (Namely, remember: “I don’t know what I don’t know.”
4. Strive always to put the kingdom of God first. (Wait . . . what?)

The pastor,  Clent Ilderton, closed with a question that might be worth tattooing to the inside of my eyelids, if I stumble into a conflict I don’t need:   

Am I willing to lose an argument for the kingdom of God?

Since people who know me, may be laughing and saying, “Not likely!” I am hoping — with the bios, and sermon — to avoid an unnecessary stumble while trying to stand firm.  

What do you think, dear reader?