Weekly Bread #220

If it isn’t one thing, it’s another. I recovered from Covid and was getting back into my hiking routine, but then I fell on a trail this week. An easy trail. One I have hiked 30+ times. It isn’t steep or tricky, but I tripped on a rock or a root and went down. No permanent damage, but I scraped my knee and forearm pretty badly. The worst of it was, I had a hard time getting up as the trail had gravel and my method of getting up from the ground these days is to get on my good knee and then lever my self up with my hands. The gravel made it too painful to put much weight on either knee. Anne tried to help me, but she is a real lightweight at less than 100 pounds, and I was afraid I’d pull her down while I was trying to get up. Luckily a biker dude was riding by and he stopped and helped me. Thank God for biker dudes and their muscles! I was glad we were not on an isolated trail and were only a mile from the car. After washing and covering the biggest scrape with a bandaid, I was able to walk slowly and carefully back. I was a little too shaky go on and too nervous about falling again to go at my normal (not very fast) pace.

I am preaching later today. It has been awhile, a couple of years at least in a congregation, and the last few were on zoom rather than in person. I am a little nervous. Maybe it is like riding a bike? It took me a long time to learn to ride a bike and I don’t do it anymore. (Falling off a bike would be worse than falling on a trail at my age anyway.)

Preaching came easier to me. I trip and fell a chancel once after a service was over, but have never literally fallen down while preaching. The Spirit also seems to help the message flow, to keep the sermon more of a dive rather than a belly-flop, even if my words and/or delivery are nothing special in themselves. There is a river flowing in us all.

I am too old for a road bike, given I was never very good at riding one even as a youth, but hopefully I am not yet too old for preaching.

L’Chaim

Average weight this week was down .3 pounds for a total loss of 146.4.