Arthritis

January 15, 2008, 3:00 pm; posted by
Filed under Articles, Erin, Featured  | 3 Comments

I remember from hours upon hours of studying for those Scripps-Howard Spelling Bees in middle school (yes, I was a hardcore speller) that the word arthritis was technically a compound word. “Artho-“, I learned, was Greek and had something to do with the joints of a vertebrate animal. “-itis”, as a suffix, meant some kind of problem, sickness or malady. Put them together and you have the reason your aunts, uncles, grandparents, and other lovable elders complain that they can “feel the weather changing in their bones.” We get old — so do all the nuts and bolts that hold us together.

But the reason arthritis has been in my head lately is not because of the (utterly amazing!) elderly people at my church either here or at home, nor is it because of too much time spent with my grandparents, hearing their complaints. I’ve been thinking about it today because my knuckles are quite sore, and I know that I don’t have arthritis.

Why should you care about this? Well, perhaps you can identify with my situation. In the last few hours, I have typed probably close to fifty emails, reminders, and schedule changes. I have taken down agendas, written to-do lists for myself and for others, taken notes, and begun to (electronically) organize events. And so, in a very melodramatic (and typical, my friends will tell you) fashion, I resort to hyperbole (“I feel like I’ve got arthritis!“) to voice my complaint at the hectic pace into which I seem to be descending.

I wonder why so many of us (perhaps not just at Houghton, as a great part of Bweinh’s readership has never visited the bloody — er, blessed — place) feel the need to keep up this pace. Now, God has indeed given us gifts of time management, organization, passion, opportunity, and guidance to keep us sane through the insane times. God continually shows me that when I seem to be at my lowest, my busiest, my most dead-from-exhaustion, that is when GOD, not I, is glorified.

All that taken as it is, and it is truth, can it really be good for us, in the service of our Master, to fill our plates to overflowing? From the one to whom much is given, much is required…so also God can (and does) give us the ability to know how much we can handle — it’s part of His reaffirming love and support.

So although I must conclude this post by apologizing for the misleading title (those of you who expected a thrilling psychosocial, or even biological, discourse on arthritis, your disappointment is my fault alone), I hope that if, in the next few days, your knuckles are sore from the drudgery of work, you will inhabit some time asking God for wisdom and discernment with your busy schedule. And then put that wisdom and discernment to use.


Comments

3 Comments to “Arthritis”

  1. Steve on January 16th, 2008 12:12 pm

    You were a lot more thorough in your spelling study than I was. How far did you ever make it? I would have gone to the National Spelling Bee in 1992 (I think), but our newspaper decided not to sponsor an entry that year or the next (when I couldn’t compete because of my grade level, although my age would have kept me going at least two after that). So my high point (as I recall) was finishing 7th at the state fair in ’91.

  2. MC-B on January 16th, 2008 3:19 pm

    I never made it past high school… if only I’d learned to spell rhythm. Or argument. Or helicopter.

  3. David on January 17th, 2008 3:47 pm

    I was approached about studying for the spelling bee in Syracuse in 8th grade but that just wasn’t cool with the guys I ran with. If only I hadn’t lived in Maywood Terrace, gone to North Jr. High School, hated every authority figure in the world…

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