I may only be 48 but I got my first cane today. It's slim and shiny black with an elegant curved handle and a nice little rubber pad on the bottom so I won't fall. I hadn't planned to be walking with a cane just yet, but right now it is a necessary part of my life. Last Saturday I pulled something in my knee and it has been steadily getting worse. It seems that I keep re-aggravating it and it is really starting to limit what I can do. So while we were in Halifax today to do a hospital visit, my husband suggested that I get a cane to help my knee and it did help tremendously.
While I was limping along I said to Brad "I now know why people limp. It's because it hurts." It probably wasn't the most profound thing I have ever said, but it was true. I hadn't really thought of why people limp before until I had to limp to walk. Sometimes it hurts. It made me think of how our pain is sometimes manifested in our actions. That grumpy sales clerk may have a miserable home life. That person who cut you off in traffic may be juggling too many responsibilities on their own with no help. That negative person who can't see the silver lining in the cloud has probably never had anyone show them how to see the positive. That rude receptionist has probably had to deal with hateful phone calls all morning.
The Bible says "out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks", Matthew 12:34 If there is hurt in the heart it comes out in our words and our actions. Usually the person who goes about hurting others is himself hurting in some way. It's hard to remember that when we are the one being hurt but we can't repay hurt with hurting others. "The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him." Matthew 12:35
The Bible is clear that we are to bless those who curse us (Luke 6:28) and 1Peter 3:9 says "Don't repay evil for evil. Don't retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it." The next time you have someone who is not very nice to you or uses you poorly, try to see them as having a limp, like I have now, and remember: they're hurting.
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