I have the flu. It hurts.
I’m saying that not because I’m looking for sympathy. I’m just one of a few million people who have the flu.
I mention it to put everyday life in perspective.
Most of us have dreams: places we want to visit, career levels to achieve, a book to write, a hit song, getting all the kids through college. Sometimes our dreams are practical and materialistic: a new house, a fancy car, mink coat, a bass boat.
If you have one or more of these dreams, you probably don’t let them dominate your every waking thought, but they pop up now and again.
The flu changes all that. Over the past 24 hours, goals and objectives that seemed to important faded behind the immediate desires to have joints that don’t ache, a stomach that holds solid food and eyes that can focus.
Today the old saying “if you have your health you have everything” ran through my mind a few times. Simply feeling OK seems much more important than having a bulging savings account or a redecorated dining room.
The flu certainly can’t be seen as a force for good in the world. It kills people, although I believe all it will do is make me miserable for a few days. But the flu has brought me back to the basics of focusing on the present and having an ongoing conversation with God, asking for his comfort and patience.
