“Peril” – something that is likely to cause injury, pain,
harm, or loss
Peril sounds like something that is unpleasant for
sure. And who would have thought perils
would lie on such a simple thing as my front sidewalk? Certainly not me. But, alas, it happened not once, but
twice in less than two weeks.
Sunday a week ago I was enjoying social time on the church
porch after a great time of worship.
Some of the children from one of the Sunday School classes had done clay
crafts that day. One of the little
guys, maybe more, had made snakes.
Whether I have mentioned this or not in this blog, those that know me
remotely well know that I don’t do snakes. Give me no photos of snakes, no rubber snakes, no snakes on
television, no clay snakes, and certainly no real snakes. I had related to one of my fellow
church members my fear of the creepy crawlers, even going so far as to relate
that when the famed snake man named Joe visited the The Girl’s elementary
school years ago, I checked her out early before the show. I respected her fear of snakes as
well. The school had advertised
with signage in one hallway. Being
the frequent parent volunteer that I was and being there often, I learned where
the sign was placed and detoured every time to my in-school destination via
another route, even if it meant more steps for me. On this particular Sunday a week ago I voiced my gratitude
that I had not seen any snakes on my property for the past three summers. Three. Count ‘em.
It wasn’t even four hours after that I was in the garage
with The Husband and a couple of guests when I had a need to go into the
house. I beebopped around the
corner of the house, got halfway up the front walk, looked down and my mind
registered a snake headed toward the steps right up against the house. It was a big snake. A. Huge. Snake. Near my sandaled feet. Peril for sure.
Somehow instead of having a heart attack right there as I expected in my
thoughts of such a situation, my feet quickly turned around and RAN towards the
open garage door. I looked at the
husband and said, “Snake on the
front walk”. I couldn’t even
scream. I was certainly a poor
excuse for a snake-scared person if I couldn’t even scream. The Husband, good man that he is,
immediately grabbed the first thing there—in this case the oar of his fishing
boat—and ran to the front walk, followed by The Guests. He, according to the eye witnesses,
murdered and disposed of the slinky thing. In case you wonder, I was NOT an eye witness. The Husband again, as he has done
for many years, proved his worth.
I think I’ll keep him.
Last night was our regular Wednesday night choir
practice. The day had been rainy
but the rain had cleared. Now that
the days are getting shorter, it’s dark when we get home. The Good Husband had left on the porch
light, pulled the truck up so as to shine the headlights that way, and I
beebopped out of the truck—anxious to get in the house to see the remainder of
one of my favorite TV shows, Survivor. (I can hear your question now and, no, we have no VCR or DVR.) I headed towards the porch with my keys. Since the last rain, The Girl and
The Son-in-law have been telling us that the spot on the sidewalk at the gutter
was VERY slick. They were
right. When my Croc-clad feet hit
that spot, down I went. Fast. Peril. Before I knew it, I was flat of my back
on the wet cement and just lay there while The Husband hurried out of his truck
to see if I was okay. I felt my
left elbow was concrete burned and a slight pain on the right side, but
otherwise felt okay. Oddly, I
didn’t even think at that point as I lay there that there could be more slimy
things around. Luckily there
wasn’t. Horrors if there had been
with my lying there needing help to get up. Oh, I just thought of how perilous that would have
been. Whew. Anyways, this morning I’m a tad sore
but not much worse for wear. Which
is amazing at my age if I think about it.
I tried to tell The Husband this morning that I was certain my cardio
footwork aided me in dropping to the ground more easily (or so the trainer says
it will do) and The Husband explained that couldn’t be true as I fell quickly
as one sliding on ice. He
knows. He watched the whole
thing.
As I considered these two episodes on my front sidewalk, I
was thinking of how my spiritual life becomes sometimes racked with peril. Perils of unbelief, lack of trust, my
own mind's thoughts, unforgiveness and even my own arrogance. Many episodes of my spiritual peril can cause me to become
more humble, more forgiving, more tolerant, and even more loving.
I have said this time and time again and most likely will
continue to do so as I believe it wholeheartedly….I am so blessed to have a God
who loves me, watches over me, and even allows perilous situations in my path
to cause me to be stronger.
Yes, I plan today to put something to keep anyone from
walking over that slickness until it can be “fixed”. And no, I don’t long to see another snake anywhere for a
long time. And just as I “tend” to
these things, I plan to “tend” to my spiritual life as well. That’s the most important life there
is!
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