Monday morning started out so nice. It was a beautiful morning, so I rode my bike down to the bakery and had coffee with two of my friends. After that I rode over to one of their houses to see her new puppy. Such a cutie!
I took the long way home and pedaled across town. I got a block from home, started to turn the corner, and CRASH!
All of a sudden I was lying on my side in the street, wondering what had happened. I gingerly got to my feet and lifted my bike from the ground. My entire right side was covered in mud and I realized that I had landed mostly on my shoulder.
I had tipped just a bit too far to the right while I turned the corner, going through some mud and water (it had rained the night before). Just like that, my bike had slid out from under me and I had landed – hard – on my right side.
When I got on the bike I found out that the chain had come off, so I got off and walked my bike slowly down the block back to our house.
I peeled off my muddy clothes and took a shower to get the gravel off my bloody hand (just a little scratch), my arm, and out of my hair. I found out I had a couple of bloody scrapes by my right knee and a bit of road rash on the back of my arm, but other than that, I was fine. It could have been so much worse.
As the day wore on, it was worse. It was surprising how I gradually got more stiff and sore as the hours went by.
And the next day proved to be even more painful. I was popping ibuprofen quite a bit, and I even had to ask Gary to get me some when I woke up at 5 a.m. on Wednesday and could hardly stand the pain. I developed a really pretty purple bruise on my right thigh (sorry, no picture, you’ll have to take my word for it).
I’ve been thinking about how much I used to take my pain-free, healthy body for granted.
Every time I try to raise my arm to do something and my shoulder protests – loudly – I realize how much I just expected that I could work and play so easily.
I think of friends who have had shoulder surgery and think about the years of pain they had to endure before they had the surgery, and the time they spent recovering.
I’ve also been thinking metaphorically about crashes and how often we don’t feel all of the pain at the time of the “crash.” It might take a little time before the shock wears off and we feel the full effects of what has happened.
After I had my bike crash, I thought I mostly hurt my shoulder, but in the days since then I have felt more pain in my entire neck. All of those muscles were jarred, and they’re all going to complain a bit until I heal.
When we have a figurative “crash” in our lives, we may think just one problem occurred: one person’s job was lost, one person’s health suffered, one person passed away, one person made a poor choice that resulted in some sort of crash.
It doesn’t take long to realize that those crashes produce all sorts of pain in other people’s lives and other areas of our own lives. We have to be aware of where we hurt and be prepared to do something about the pain if we need to.
At this point, I’m pretty sure I just have sore muscles, but if I had had excruciating pain in my arm or shoulder I would have gone to the doctor to get checked out. I need to take some medicine for the pain and make sure I’m not overdoing it with using my right side until it heals.
If we have emotional pain from sort of crash in our lives, we also have to get it treated if it’s severe or if it lingers for a long time. We need to cut ourselves some slack and take it easy while we heal from any kind of “crash” in our lives.
We may have some visible (or invisible) scars from our crash, but with some time we’ll be able to move on and continue life’s journey.
If we live life at all, we’re probably going to experience some crashes. They’re so difficult, but they also teach us. They teach us to get back up. They teach us to empathize with others. They teach us to have compassion. They teach us to slow down and then keep going.
And they teach us to make sure we’re careful and riding straight when we go through a muddy puddle on our bike.
“My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word. ” (Psalm 119:28 NIV)
Have you experienced a “crash” in life lately? How can focusing on God help you to get through it and move on after you’ve healed?