Spring means the birth of new beginnings, but it also signals a dawning of mowing the lawn. For many, home improvement ideas begin to dance around in our heads – I for one.
My wife and I live in an older home and we had a concrete pad in front of the side door for as long as I could recall. The thought occurred to me it would be nice to have a roof with support columns over that. Having a contractor background, I calculated the material needed and began to build it with the blessings of my spouse. All went well until the day came to apply the shingles.
It was a Saturday, a warm one, and as I placed the finishing touches on the day’s work I stepped back to acquire my work. I should have paid more attention to where the edge was, because my foot slipped over the side and down I went – falling some ten feet. I didn’t remember much after that. I’m relying on what my wife said occurred. She said I walked into the house and sat down at the kitchen table. My face was scratched up, my knee was bleeding, and I complained of side pain. Cindy asked me what happened. She told me I said, “I think I fell off the roof … I don’t know.”
After she’d cleaned the wounds, my wife said I told her, “I’d like to lay down for a while.” As I lay in bed, Cindy said I started talking nonsense. I asked her several times, “What happened?” Her answer always was, “You fell off the roof!”
“What roof?”
“The porch roof, Greg!”
“We have a porch?”
Cindy said I then blurted out, “I think I may have a concussion!” She asked me if I’d like to go to the emergency room, but I declined. According to her, I chose to take a nap with a cold cloth pressed to my forehead. Things slipping your mind is a symptom of a concussion, an injury to the brain. I was fortunate to awake a couple hours later with no lasting symptoms.
A concussion is a serious matter and shouldn’t be taken lightly – I’d like to make that clear. Now that I’ve had time to reflect upon that, it brings me to my point and the comparison there of: When we make mistakes, as we all do, we’re only a breath away from forgiveness. Asking God to forgive us of our sins is an easy thing – if we only try. When we do ask for forgiveness He remembers the sin no more. I heard a minister once say, “He throws it into the sea of forgetfulness. An analogy of God imposing a self-inflicted concussion upon Himself is what I compare it to.
Your relatives, or friends, never seem to forget – nor does the evil one. Remember that bonehead stunt you pulled? They may say. God, on the other hand, can’t recall a thing. “What sin? You sinned?” – This piece was published in the Lebanon, Indiana “Reporter” newspaper – (4/27/09)
Manna and Coffee 