Strengthen the Things That Remain or The Gift of a Short Illness

I once had a Boy Scout leader that worked at a wood processing mill outside of Meridian, MS. One thursday night he took a bunch of us on a field trip to the place. I can still remember one part of it vividly. The mill had a machine the size of Northwest Jr. High School's gym. It was a long tube-like thing with iron teeth on the inside. We watched the workers drop huge pine logs and roll them with impressive violence. We looked with delight as the big tumbler spit out skinned pine. The logs were gritty, naked, and more useful than before. I feel like one of those logs.

We went to New Orleans last weekend for a wedding and came home with the nastiest stomach bug I have ever known. It hit like a train on Sunday. For the last few days we have been rolling in the tumbler. I'm feeling better today and will be leading an Advent Vespers service later tonight. I'm back but the time apart was not all bad. Our unplanned two-day sabbatical from the "real" world has given me the chance to focus clearly on the things that matter most. I feel raw and gritty and more useful. Chalk it up to the odd ways of God.