February 19, 2021 – Click here to listen
I went to the dermatologist yesterday and he did everything but burn me at the stake removing wannabe cancer spots. He didn’t bat an eye as he sprayed nitrous oxide on my hands, arms, back, and face freezing and killing off some 30-40 potential skin cancers. This morning I have blisters all over my body from it that look gross.
He showed no mercy and even seemed to smile as I winced from the pain when he was spraying sensitive areas like my ears and forehead. My wife had scheduled an appointment at the same time as mine due to the hour long drive and she had one single spot on her forehead zapped. She began whining about it and I told her that it was comparable to telling a man with his legs chopped off that she has a toe ache. That didn’t go over too well.
So a friend of mine was checking his stone crab traps and his girlfriend was driving the boat. She accidentally pushed the throttle too hard and he fell down hard injuring his ribs. So he calls me and begins to tell me how painful it was and I sarcastically told him, “Oh you poor Baby please hang on for a moment I need to go get a box of tissues for this sad story. That didn’t go over too well.
I suppose I’m not as empathetic as I should be. – You think?
I’ve been reading the book of Job and his friends have accused him of being a sinner and railed against him that he was reaping what he sowed. It is nauseating to read chapter after chapter of them railing against this poor man. His kids, wealth, stature in the community, and health had all been stripped from him and his so-called “friends” comforted him by piling on.
Egad! I told my Bible study partner that I would just as soon suffer alone than listen to all that junk being spewed from these hypocrite’s mouths. If I were Job and suffering like him, I think a well-placed left hook would find its way to their big mouths.
Oops . . . Job’s friends’ reaction seems to be the same kind of behavior of which I’m guilty. Gulp . . .
The right word at the right time can help us when we need comfort in our suffering. Sometimes it is difficult to find compassion, especially among crusty old nitwits like me. That is why we should look to the Holy Scriptures, like the book of Jeremiah. He knew what it feels like to have unsympathetic dispassionate friends, when he wrote, “All those who were my friends are on the watch for any misstep of mine.” The scriptures are the best support group or guidance anyone can have, especially when there are no empathetic kind friends around to talk to about it. And of course if one looks around some, I’m sure there are some folks around just oozing with comforting words. I guess I need to work on that . . .
2 Corinthians 1:3
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles,
so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
Have a great weekend and go to church this Sunday!