EPIPHANY II
January 16, 2022
“I’ve Got To Take a Sick Day”
Winter in the Midwest has been doing its usual thing — a good share of gray and cold days that leaves us numb and not feeling much of anything — not too ambitious, not too cheerful, not even too bright. We manage, as we always do, to deal with winter — but do the TV and newspapers have to give the season another name — “The Cold and Flu Season”? How awful does that sound? A whole season of sickness!
I’ve seen a couple of commercials on television for cold medications (that almost scare me they’re so potent) that will get the sufferer through the worst cold symptoms and on with his or her life. They’ve caught my eye, because they depict a dad in one, and a mother in the other, standing in the doorway of a little child’s room and saying, “I’m sorry, but I’m gonna have to take a sick day.” In each case, the child looks at the parent with a completely bewildered expression, and “The Voice” says, “Moms and Dads can’t take sick days” and then extols the wonder product. Most of us remember parents taking care of us when we had a bad cold, a sore throat, or upset stomach, and how safe we felt because they were in charge, and they knew how to make us feel better. Later in our lives, perhaps as parents ourselves, we came to realize that calm, controlled Mom and confident Dad were probably anxious and sleepless over the queasy, feverish child in the next bedroom.
Children are seldom aware of their parents’ vigilance, and we adults may not notice the ongoing protection of our heavenly father, but it is present nonetheless. Whatever the circumstances, God doesn’t sleep, take sick days or vacations, or turn his back on us when we get ourselves into a mess.
Our lives have been turned around in so many ways as the pandemic has rolled its destructive way all over the world. Everyday life is nothing like it was three years ago, and we really don’t want the way things are now to become our “new normal.” We’re feeling terribly vulnerable, frustrated at our inability to have much control over our own lives, and we wonder if we’ll ever have a sense of safety or security again.
Once again, the book of Psalms offers us words of reassurance and comfort in the midst of troubled, frightening times. In these verses from Psalm 121, the words “keep” and “keeps” mean to “watch over” — as the Lord protects us through this life for all time.
My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.
Psalm 121:2-4, 8
Grateful secure in the knowledge that God keeps us all in his care,
Your friend in Christ,
Mary Rogers