I’m finally in what I think is the last phase of my recent health confusion. My nose is dripping, and it seems like I use at least one box of tissues daily.
When I was young, I remember having a bad case of this, and I asked my mother, “Mom, where does all my snot come from?”
I’d never seen my mother as angry with me as she was for me saying that. She looked at me and growled, “Son, I never want to hear you say that word again. We don’t use the word ‘snot’ in our house. We use the phrase, ‘nasal fluids. If you ever say the word ‘snot’ again, you’ll be in more trouble than you’ve ever been in your life. Do you understand me?”
This phenomenon makes it very difficult to go out in public. I’m sneezing, and my nose is running all the time, making a box of tissues as important as my truck keys.
When I think I’ve mastered my nasal issues, I take a deep breath, and before I’m done, that fluid is running out of my nostril faster than ever before.
I’ve reached the point where I don’t feel the fluid flowing out of my nostril. Because of that, I don’t know if it’s running down my face and dripping off my chin. What an embarrassing situation that is.
As always, wife Martha, The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage, has somewhat of a solution for my dilemma.
One morning, she looked at me and said, “Why don’t you wear a mask? Nobody will see anything about that because everybody is familiar with masks these days.”
That’s the most brilliant thing she’s ever told me. I never thought of wearing a mask, which would prevent people from seeing what’s going on behind it.
One day, I tried it, and it seemed to work, except when I got home and took off the mask, it was filled to overflowing with you know what. How all of that stayed in my mask, I’ll never know. But at least nobody could see my problem.
Recently, I’ve been taking about a half-dozen masks when I go anywhere. I try to change my mask every hour, at least.
Being able to cover up a problem, especially my problem, is a challenge.
I must confess that I’m not very good at covering up any of my problems. No matter how much I try, Martha always can see through my endeavors.
My biggest challenge is dealing with the world. There is one verse that gives me comfort and encouragement.
“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” — 1 John 5: 4-5
My faith in Jesus Christ is what enables me to overcome the world around me. When I try to do this by my own cleverness, guess what? I always fail.
My challenge is to trust God when any problem arises.
Dr. Snyder is a former pastor who lives with the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage, wife Martha, in Ocala, Fla. His email is [email protected]
