According to Ed

Sometimes Helping Others Hurts Us

Ed, my old neighbor, phoned yesterday. I couldn’t come to the phone because I was soaking in the tub. When I got around to calling him back, I explained that my wife had said to me, “You stink.” I offered to put on a clean shirt, but she said nothing would hide my B.O. I decided to take a hot bath as I sniffed some truth to her criticism.

Ed understood, saying that desperate times call for extreme measures. We both talked of the good old days when bath night was once a week, whether you needed it or not. Ed said that it was good that I cleaned up for my wife. He felt that my sacrifice of time, soap, and water didn’t cost me much to become an odorless husband for my wife.

Ed suggested she might have asked for something far more costly. He told me of folks he knew where the wife needed a kidney transplant. The husband was tested but failed to be compatible to donate one of his kidneys for his wife.

We Dismiss The Warnings That Don’t Seem Urgent

“My hair stood on end, a shiver raced down my spine, and a lump came to my throat. It was him!” I asked Ed, my old neighbor in Saskatchewan, “Does this seem like a happy or a scary situation to you?”

“It seems to me that a lot of bad stuff could result from seeing him whoever he might be,” Ed answered. “Are you into some spooky story from Halloween,” he asked me.

“No, the quotation is not from a spooky story,” I said. It may mean both what could be positive or negative. It does center on whoever him turns out to be. He is not a zombie, a ghost, or a monster. Hair standing on end, and a shiver down the spine could suggest fear. A lump in the throat might suggest great emotion at the sight of someone special, but not necessarily dreadful. Recognizing him implies he is life-altering because of our relationship with him.

 Perfect Timing Neither Too Soon Nor Too Late

Ed, my old neighbor in Saskatchewan, always has his timing on track every Halloween. This year he was dressed up in a Deadpool Muscle Chest Costume. He looked impressive, and with the mask, no one could identify him. He admits that although he had the extra-large size, the fit was tight. I had not heard of Deadpool. I was not aware of him as a Marvel comic character or as a character in a movie or two. Ed felt it was time I paid more attention to the various hero and villain characters that everyone else knows about but me.

I admit to being unaware of the many heroes and the villains in movies and books. The time that I spend watching movies is on comedies. Even in picking movies, few people have the time to watch every film that is a new release or the many older ones. Timing is always about priorities. You can not watch every movie at the same time. You must see one movie and then another according to your preference of now or later.

God As Our Supernatural Helper And Keeper

“It is easy to forget that everyone will hit a stretch when they cannot get their work done due to conditions beyond their control,” Ed said. “It sure seems that it happens too often to farmers like me,” he added.

I agree with Ed that the weather can halt a farmer’s harvest. Weather can also stress long-distance truckers with hazardous road conditions, causing delays, and possible road closures. People may say time is money, but time can also mean wrestling with an interval of time, that has you pinned to the mat. Waiting doesn’t always come with an eventual win. Life can seem to have more than its share of losses.

When you are pinned to the mat in situations you cannot change, how will you throw your problems off? — Some issues, like the weather or other people, maybe beyond our ability to change them. When difficulties are more significant than our capacity to fix them, we may call for help. Sometimes others can help us over delays and setbacks. The assistance given may also make things worse. Who do people call for help when problems seem insurmountable?

God Is Not Spiraling Out Of Control

My old neighbor in Saskatchewan says, “At an election time there are always two points of view. Things have never been so bad, or things have never been so good, depending on which political, point of view suits you.”

I agree with Ed in that, at election time, folks tend to name it and blame it or name it and claim it. Some promise a balanced budget, while others are not afraid of deficits. It is the time one can be for or against endless issues. Elections always seem to heighten the feeling that things may be spiraling out of control. Even when the election is all said and done, some will be anxious and discouraged about the results.

The Excitement Of Eating With Missing Teeth

When Ed phoned last, I was looking at the ads for dentists in the phone directory. I asked him which dentist office sounded best to him: the first one had the slogan, “We care gently for kids, for adults, and cowards too.” The second dentist’s office had the expression, “We take care of your mouth like an angel.” My old neighbor said that he didn’t like either. He would go to a dentist that promised, “True painless dentistry at no cost to you ever.”

Since going to the dentist is a necessary mixture of physical and mental torture, I like the idea of a slogan to motivate me. I usually get going to the dentist because a nasty toothache forces me to go. I am too good at ignoring regular checkups and paying with a tooth demanding attention. Love is said to conquer all, but I have not found it so with a toothache. I also recognize a dentist’s chair is the only place I should open my mouth. You cannot put your foot in your mouth there with the dentist drilling, filling, or extracting your teeth in your open mouth.