Seems as if when the trials of this temporal life try to take our bodies, minds, and hearts into prayers of petition, it is far too easy to neglect what is the highest form of prayer, and that is the praise of His Real Presence: the Most Holy Trinity.
I'm sure as Jesus is praying for us constantly, He is also praising His and Our Father, and the Holy Spirit of eternal love. Yet today I'm reminded, now that the lumbar pain of body has eased more than in quite awhile, to turn my mind and heart and soul to praise of the Holy Trinity: His Real Presence.
I can begin by praising Jesus and thanking Him for praying for me constantly--such as yesterday. I had the spinal steroid injection, being given a Xanax for sedation prior. I understand why, but what a nasty medication (yet to those whose anxiety depends upon such medications, it is a gift!). In my situation, the doctor could not risk even a flinch of movement, or he could easily insert the needle into a nerve or the spinal cord itself.
During the procedure, I can only recall that I was going on about praying pain and how pain is a powerful prayer. I also got into insights in pain sieges, and shared with the doctor and the assistant in the room, how deeper conversions is a prayer the Lord will always answer, as well as the insights on temporal hopes being but human wishes and desires--positive thought they might be--but that Hope in God is the eternal hope, the true hope, and of which being a theological virtue, the hope always available to us in its perfect outcome, always within us for our utilization.
It is perhaps a bit humorous what comes out of us when partly sedated--what comes out. But this pain doctor has in past discussed spiritual and scriptural topics. I had already explained to him prior to the Xanax taking effect, a bit more what is a spinal headache, how awful it was on Sunday when I could not take even an Excedrin to try to ward it off, but that I offered that pain of several hours for the doctor and his family.
I do recall during the spinal injections (one on each side of spine--L-2,3) that the doctor asked me who was the first disciple to follow Jesus. "Andrew!" I then went into how in my current locale there is a canal behind, and a heron whom I've named Andrew. He comes to fish early in the morning. (In a previous hermitage there was a small subdivision pond, and also a heron I named Andrew.)
Praise God we can be ourselves without excuse! In yesterday's situation, if it seemed odd to the doctor or especially perhaps his assistant, a PA named Drew (Andrew?), they could chalk it off to the Xanax. For me, it was a delight, for I delight in speaking of whatever the Lord is teaching, such as the prayer for deeper conversions, the Hope in God, the power of prayer pain and pain prayer, or tidbits of Scripture that we joyfully weave into our daily, temporal lives.
(For example, the second bedroom from end of hall upstairs is dedicated to priests. The first room is for the angels. I'm going to put the ironing board in the priests' room so as to consider "ironing out" the problems of errant priests as they are confronted with many temptations in their vocations, and there have been far too many scandals and of course, a shortage of priests in this country.)
Yesterday within an hour of my daughter getting me back into my hermitage and onto the bed (this room is called the Resurrection Room), a headache developed. Eight hours later and having tried all the Excedrin with half an ale, muscle relaxants, pain meds, anti-nausea med--bit by bit, waiting and seeing if any of them would have effect--I texted the daughter to please return.
I'd called the on-call doctor of the pain clinic; he said not to try any more meds for obviously they were not working to rid out the intractable and horrible headache. Ended up being taken to the emergency room, and after going through all the symptoms and past history, and what all was tried on my own, I received two injections of two types of sedative medication. By midnight was back at the hermitage, on the bed, and soon after konked out. Praise God!
Today I've been dozing yet up a couple times to go out and water some plants on the patio. Praise God in Heaven and on earth! The lumbar is loosened and can bend over without terrible pain. Praise God if it is from the spinal injections or the sedative injections or a sheer miracle that His Real Presence deigned to grant! Praise God also that I did receive a call yesterday from the surgeon's staff that my appointment has been moved up two weeks, so I have but 6 days instead of 20 to wait.
I'm praising God for the vast reservoir of HOPE that is within my soul, of which I'm certain my angel yesterday and last night was immersing me. I do realize that FAITH is the theological virtue more analyzed, of which more is written by theologians--faith and love both. But Hope in God is powerful to me in ways never before had I even considered. What a GIFT! Praise God the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit for God's HOPE so immensely available to us, always!
Going through one of those headaches of which I've not had to that degree in YEARS, had I not had the recent insight about Hope in God--well, I'm not sure how I'd have made it through with the peace of Christ and the strength of the Holy Spirit, with the love flowing from the Father with the Son poured into me by the Holy Spirit.
Praise the Holy Trinity! Praise His Real Presence! My heart sings with praises of thanksgiving!
Praying deeper conversions that I enter into praising Father, Son, and Holy Spirit increasingly, into a constancy of affection and love of God in Himself, with that love flowing out perfectly to love of all others, love of this temporal life and world, love of the heavenly realms, the angels, the saints, the glory of God.
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