Health and well-being

Appreciating Health

In this last week I have heard about a number of people, who I care about, with health difficulties. I feel sad about them all, some of them are very scary circumstances indeed. I have no theological answers to why some people have to cope with so much sickness. Sometimes it is caused by various choices and environmental factors, but often it is just a bad deal of the cards... I feel for such people who battle ongoing conditions and admire them for their courage and often their persistent positive attitude. I have two sisters in law and a brother in law going through tough times at the moment. I also encountered a number in my chaplaincies who have told me about serious health scares or issues. I wish I could do something to make life easier for them but that is not my field. It has made me appreciate the measure of health I have, I am very fortunate. Yesterday I biked nearly 40k, and half of that was against a strong head wind. My quads were burning. Today I ran a slow 12k. I think I am very fortunate to still be able to enjoy such things at my age. I really appreciate having the health I have. This morning as we sang the benediction at church I got an unexplained little pain in my chest. My mind went to a few preachers I know who have collapsed at the end of a service. I don't think it was anything because it went as fast as it came.

My one gift...

As I mentioned above today I ran 12 k. I have not run that distance in a while and have not been running consistently and regularly. I set my sights on it, and stuck at the task. There was a stage just after I ran past my van at the 9k stage when I nearly turned around and walked back to the van. "No" I said to myself (OK I talk to myself...I know it is strange!) "I can do this, if I just keep putting one foot in front of the other" As I ran I thought that was the main ability I have... persistence... or perseverance. I am not highly skilled at anything in particular... I can make do at the things I do, but I have been able often to hang in there when others have given up.... At the Church, at drop-in, at chaplaincy, at Habitat for Humanity, on the Night Shelter Committee. In all these I have not been a spectacular leader, often just played the support role, but in all I have hung in and kept at tasks when others might well have given up. That is perhaps my gift -too dumb to give up. I do think that in a lot of things persistence is required. Our first house for Habitat for Humanity took two years to build. Often there was only 3 - 4 turning up and we were also involved in fund raising. But now it is on a firm footing. At the Night Shelter we had a lot of set backs. A number of people resigned in frustration. But now we are successfully meeting a need. We have been running a drop-in centre on Friday nights at the church for something like 15 years! It is meeting needs and even some have changed significantly.

I would not do that!

Driving into town this week one morning. It was blowing a gale and rain (almost sleet) was blowing horizontally. I drove past the new stadium being built and saw some men working on the massive, very high roof trusses. I saw guys sitting astride the big round structures in this terrible wind and rain! I have no doubt that they had harnesses on these days, but I thought, I would not do that for all the money they could pay me! I take my hat off to those workers. In my time I have worked on pretty high structures and scaffold, but this looked above and beyond the call of duty. I recall once, as a plumber, working on a nine story building. The concrete shell was up and some timber frame work. I was installing copper pipes in the timber frame work, clambering through the frames. It was a windy, cold wet day and while we were under cover the wind was blowing the rain in at us and it was freezing. The pipes were so cold it felt sore to hold on to them. I looked across at the building opposite. I could see the offices of, I think, a law firm. There were guys lounging at their desks with hot coffee, muffins and the newspaper spread open. It looked like they were having a late breakfast at work. I looked and thought that it seemed unfair. Here we were freezing our butts off, scrambling around frame work like apes in the forest, getting cuts, knocks and bruises, and probably getting paid half as much per hour as those guys reading the morning paper in their warm offices! Anyway I thought these guys on the stadium were pretty tough being up there the other day.

Photos from my bike ride..

- A jetty running out into the Otago Harbour at a yacht club which was the terminus of my ride.

- The late afternoon sun over the top harbour area.

- My $100 bike from K mart which I have had for a few years. It has now clocked up quite a few kilometres and owes me nothing. Who needs a $3000 bike?

- The aforementioned stadium... a controversial structure being built in Dunedin, hopefully completed by the Rugby World Cup next year!