That Hurts

Since I had knee surgery, I have been doing a lot of sitting. Surfing the net. Reading. Napping. Thinking.

And one of the things I've been thinking about is this little blog. It was so easy to make the time when I wasn't sleeping. After all, what else are you going to do at 4:00 in the morning? But I am generally sleeping now, and it is much more difficult to get up early than it was.

My surgery has reminded me that needful things are often very difficult, very uncomfortable, very demanding.

My exercises hurt. I have to push myself to do them, because I know they are unpleasant. They look so easy on paper but are so difficult in actuality. 

But without them my new knee will never bend or straighten the way its maker intended.

Such are spiritual disciplines. Sometimes they hurt and make me very uncomfortable. They can be difficult and hard to maintain.

But without them my life will never be what its maker intended.

And so I bend and stretch and go beyond my comfort level with my knee. 

I bend and stretch and go beyond my comfort level with my heart.

It hurts.