One of my favorite lines in “The Big Lebowski” is when Sam Elliot tells The Dude, “Sometimes you eat the bear; sometimes the bear, well, he eats you.”
As some of you Medium.com folks know, the bear made mincemeat out of me last week: Spent three days in the hospital getting pinned, poked and prodded. (Details here.) Got home Friday, ready to emotionally downshift. Then the bear bit again; this time my wife was the target. On Saturday her blood pressure went ballistic (something like 213/88). She visited the ER; they admitted her later that day. She’s there now.
How do I deal with this crappy stuff? If you’ve been reading these Sunday Meditations awhile, you can guess: Got on my knees and prayed.
Why?
It comforts me. Puts life in perspective. Settles me down.
You might think that after being a believer nearly 45 years, I’d be a “Super-Duper Christian.” I’m not. But I will tell you this: I’m humbler and happier than I’ve ever been: Humbler, because I realize there’s always going to be events, people, things, that are beyond my control; happier, because I’ve a deeper trust in a loving God in whose hands I’ve placed my life.
Proverbs 3:5–6 helps me when the bear bites:
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Let’s end this Meditation with Miracle Max’s quote about love from another of my favorite movies, “The Princess Bride.”
“True love is the greatest thing in the world, except for a nice MLT — mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich — where the mutton is nice and lean, and the tomato is ripe.”
Hmmmmmm, mutton.
Jim Lamb is a retired journalist and author of “Orange Socks & Other Colorful Tales,” the story of how he survived Vietnam and kept his sense of humor. He occasionally enjoys a nice MLT. For more about Jim and his writing, visit www.jslstories.com.
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