“Common Sense isn’t Faith…Faith isn’t Common Sense”

Dear Reader:

Isn’t it interesting how we can come across a thought like “Ezekiel’s Vision about Wheels within a Wheel” (as happened to me by going to Hobby Lobby to look for a suitable hearth wall hanging)…and then suddenly ‘wheels within wheels” just start popping up everywhere…whether in conversation, application, or more visibly… walls in buildings I enter.

This  art work was hanging in the hallway right outside my Comprehensive Wound Center office entrance door. It has been there forever but I just “saw” it Friday when I went for my weekly appointment. The door to the office is so heavy I always have to stop and lean my shoulder/body up against the door to push it open. It was while I was getting ready for this weekly “ritual” that I finally noticed the art work.

I let go of the door handle…backed away…grabbed my iPhone and took the picture. I thought again about the definition I had looked up concerning the phrase…”Wheels within wheels”…a complicated situation, made even more so, by varying thoughts and opinions in reference to an outcome concerning an incident.

This has definitely been true of my foot “steps” through the on-going process of healing my left foot. Common sense, alone, hasn’t been enough to help me or my medical team figure out ways to implement the right techniques to make my foot whole again. It has taken a lot of  ‘leaps of faith’  on both our ends to try new methods to accomplish this goal. (Luckily my team has been open to new methods and supportive of each other’s ideas and opinions.)

There is a strong possibility that this past Friday’s Affinity treatment might have been the last…(not the last work to be done on the foot…just the last Affinity procedure.) There is still some healing left to do and honestly I don’t know yet what that will entail but this medical team has earned my faith and I am leaving my complete recovery in their (not only capable…but miraculous) hands.

I have seen the medical “wheels within a wheel” at work right before me while I listen in fascination to every member of my medical team… nurses,  doctor, the medical representative providing the Affinity…all brain-storming together…week after week after week. All of them encouraging me that we are getting closer to our goal…not to get discouraged along the way. (Especially when I was strapped to the Wound Vac…one of my personal greatest challenges.)

When I looked up the word Affinity…instead of several different definitions they all combined to mean the same thing…

“If you get along with someone very well, you have an affinity with them. … When you are attracted to someone or something a great deal, we say that you have an affinity, a natural connection. Likewise, scientists use affinity to describe organisms that are alike or resemble each other.

On a social level…my medical team has formed an “affinity” for each other….we laugh a lot and kid a lot making the hour procedure fly by  in a warm companionable atmosphere. The new viable tissue being used to “bridge” my wound for my developing skin to cover is a natural connection …just one not used until recently…with much success.

Common sense methods work many times and don’t we all revere people we label as “Good common sense folks“…the type of people who can help us in most situations? Still there always comes a time…when common sense alone doesn’t work…we have to rely on faith...on Someone bigger than us…the Great Physician who uses earthly doctors as instruments to accomplish great miracles.

So until tomorrow…I am so blessed to be experiencing the two best worlds (wheels) within my medical team (more wheels)…common sense and faith…the winning combination.

I left my appointment Friday for a “date” with my oldest grandchild-Eva Cate. The school had only a half-day scheduled Friday so she would be home by the time my appointment was over.

Reading doesn’t come easily for her so benchmark assessments make Eva Cate very nervous.. But to her amazement and her teacher and tutor’s delight she showed real progress this nine weeks….once again combining good old common sense reading/teaching methods with good old-fashioned faith. They lifted Eva Cate’s scores and spirits. Well done my little one!

We always have to go get some TCBY of course and some kind of surcie she can pick out…it was a fun afternoon and evening sharing in the happiness. (Also watching Eva Cate teach Jake how to do the Macarena! 🙂

As I was typing last evening I looked out my window and saw a strange looking moon…like something out of a Halloween show…with tree branches and shadows across it.

***But from what I hear… tonight will be the real spectacle…with a great spook show title all its own: Super Blood Wolf Moon! Can hardly wait until tonight…(10’ish I believe? 🙂

 

 

 

About Becky Dingle

I was born a Tarheel but ended up a Sandlapper. My grandparents were cotton farmers in Laurens, South Carolina and it was in my grandmother’s house that my love of storytelling began beside an old Franklin stove. When I graduated from Laurens High School, I attended Erskine College (Due West of what?) and would later get my Masters Degree in Education/Social Studies from Charleston Southern. I am presently an adjunct professor/clinical supervisor at CSU and have also taught at the College of Charleston. For 28 years I taught Social Studies through storytelling. My philosophy matched Rudyard Kipling’s quote: “If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” Today I still spread this message through workshops and presentations throughout the state. The secret of success in teaching social studies is always in the story. I want to keep learning and being surprised by life…it is the greatest teacher. Like Kermit said, “When you’re green you grow, when you’re ripe you rot.”
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2 Responses to “Common Sense isn’t Faith…Faith isn’t Common Sense”

  1. bcparkison says:

    Love the painting. Looks like it could be made out of old 45 records. lol
    One of my grands was having a slow time doing her homework until she got her eyes checked and now cute little pink and purple glasses have made all the difference. ( two pairs in case something happens to one)

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