TGIF
Talk about the last thing I needed…
For the last month I have been dealing with severe sciatica that creates intense pain and severely limits my mobility.
I’ve been trying to do what I have to do despite it…dragging my leg behind me as best as I could.
That wasn’t the very last thing I needed, though.
After preparing a meal for my mom, I limped into my room and Smokey arose from his bed to greet me…limping.
It appeared that my old friend was hurt…and that was the very last thing I needed at the moment.
He silently sat in front of me… holding his paw off the ground a couple of inches, as cats do when they have a injury to the leg or paw.
I gently lifted him off the ground and looked to see if I could find the problem.
There wasn’t any puncture wound, nor did he react when I applied pressure to various spots.
I made a mental note to call the vet in the morning, hoping I’d be able to drive.
Then I went to fill his food dish…and he walked over to eat without any limp at all.
He ate, then jumped up on the bed to wait for me…without demonstrating any hurt from the effort.
After I got in bed, he laid down beside my leg and began to purr.
That’s when I understood.
Smokey wasn’t physically hurting.
He was simply telling me that when I hurt, he hurts with me and for me.
It was a beautiful demonstration of what love looks like where pain abounds.
Cats purr when they are happy…but they also purr when they are in pain…or trying to relieve the pain of someone they love.
I’m thankful today for the pain that has allowed others to demonstrate when I hurt, they do too.
I’m thankful that I have a God who identifies with me in my suffering.
I’m thankful that a loving Lord has given an old man an old cat to show that He cares.
I ‘m thankful that pain can bring healing and hope, even though it’s painful indeed.
Someday. the pain will disappear…but the love will live on.
Make your own application…
One very old Missionary Baptist minister once told me: “You’ll know you’re there when there’s no more pain”.
I’ve had sciatica for 35+ years now and I can definitely relate.
The story of Androcles comes to mind.
There have been times I’ve wondered how to get through 35 minutes…35 years would be brutal…
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son[a] from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14
I’m always amazed at how God meets us right where we are. The word well-spoken, the little gift, the kind gesture-I’ve had several recently as I’ve ended up running on empty a few times. The Incarnation always reminds me that I am loved and completely understood.
So 11 or 12 years ago my sciatic nerve going to my left leg was inflamed. The nerve literally felt like someone had a hold of it and twisted it around a few times and also lit it on 🔥. My wife suggested her massage therapist ( I’d never been) the MT educated me on the fact the nerve can either be intramuscular, beneath or below the max glute or fitting into the sciatic notch on the back of pelvis. The nerve was inflamed ..the therapist did some fairly deep tissue massage and gently moved my leg rotating it with knee bent 90 Degrees.. in spite of having this pain for almost one year the pain subsided over the next day or so and was completely gone.
The same thing happened a few years later with unbelievably painful plantar Fasciitis
The podiatrist wanted to cut and reattach, I knew better, the same MT relieved the pain completely in 2 or 3 sessions… heat and deep tissue.
Linn,
Amen…it’s easier for me to receive from cats than people…God makes a way…
Jb,
That’s on the agenda when all the imaging comes back…
Also check as this is many times overlooked:
Over the years a calcium build up around the spinal cord
can develop and create debilitating sciatic pain. This is often overlooked!
Good news is they can carefully go in and remove the build up!
Dr. Oz,
They’ll be checking for that…