Today friends is a different day: I’m not sure if I saw a
spirit of death, but I did have a nose-bleed. First some summary facts: what I think brought me to this day.
I have suffered with high blood pressure since I was
nineteen. It was probably before nineteen that I actually had high blood
pressure, but I tried to get into the Navy in 1974 and in the process the
examining physicians told me I had high blood pressure; which would disqualify
me for enlistment. So began the story.
I’ve been on blood pressure medication for over four decades. I have had
some success with diet and exercise, but hypertension has always been with me. Yes,
it has been a nuisance at times.
This past Friday I had a nosebleed. Not unusual for this
time of year with spring pollen and such, but this one was different. I did
Kleenex therapy and pinched my nose and after a while it stopped. But later
that day, we took the dog for a walk and it came back – not with a vengeance,
but it did come back.
Through the night there was no issue, but yesterday
it came back. Cathy and I were packing to leave on a business trip and
we got our things ready to go and left for Boise. When we got to our hotel at
about 5:30pm it came back with a vengeance this time. We got to the hotel and I
couldn’t stop the bleeding. It lasted and lasted and finally, I had Cathy take
me to a local hospital to their Emergency Room.
They took me into an exam room and found that amidst the
bloody nose, I also had shockingly high blood pressure. So, long story short,
after an IV of medicine to stabilize my blood pressure, and cauterizing the
burst vessel in my nose, they ended the affair by shoving packing material into
my nostril at a force of which I imagined to be that of a mule kicking. It
hurt. They discharged me within a half hour or so and within 8 blocks from the
hospital, the packing fell out. Tough luck.
The nose bleed has come back twice today and currently is
sleeping. My nervousness is not.
Here’s the deal guys: we don’t stay young forever. We are
not invincible. Physicians and well-meaner's offer us advice and counsel. Diet,
exercise, and following orders are important. They seem to be more important
when you’ve seen a spirit. That’s what I’ve seen this weekend.
I looked at my wife from my gurney and saw the fear in
her eyes. My children are concerned. People at my church are praying. I’m not
dead – yet. But I have seen a different light today – the light of repentance.
I see the need to amend my ways; while I still have a chance. Human life is not
the outcome, but it is the means to eternal life it isn’t to be wasted along
the way.
Today is a day of repentance and a renewal of faith for
me. In the Book of Job it says: A spirit
glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood on end. (Job 4.15) I can
identify with that. My life is not my own and my body is not my property to
abuse. I repent. It’s a new day. We’ll see what the doc has to say tomorrow. Pray for a miracle...
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