Taking Step One to Get to Step Two

About six months ago, I had a colonoscopy. Don't laugh, someday you’re going to be as old as me, and then you'll discover ‘colonoscopy happens.’ Then you will have the same REVEAL-A-TION as me. Having a colonoscopy is a down-under experience. But the procedure is nothing compared to the prep. The day before a colonoscopy, you will gulp weird stuff, lots of it, eight ounces every ten minutes until the gallon or more is gone. Drano would have been more pleasant.

When that stuff takes effect, ‘excrement happens.’ I learned a whole new meaning to the song, ‘Skip to the loo.’ Hint: don't skip…run, because something else is starting to run and wants to catch up with you. A voice comes out of your body, saying, "Butt, wait, there's more." You've heard of the saying, "Everything works out in the end. If it hasn't worked out, it's not the end." That has a whole new meaning to me now. If it hasn't worked out, it's NOT the end. Whatever is inside of the ‘loo’ bowl will not be evenly distributed. I used a whole toilet roll and then some. My toilet paper roll holder needed Roll-Aids.

Don't worry; everything came out in the end. I'm fine. My next colonoscopy is ten years away. I’m glad I’ve got this behind me. I'm not sitting down on a porcelain throne. I'm sitting here this morning in a real chair. Now, my favorite verse is, "And it came to pass." Someone just wrote to me, "Way to go, Ed!"

If this brief (I couldn’t resist that) recount of my colonoscopy offends your sensibilities, please forgive me. I thought with all the stuff that is going on in our world, we could use a little laughter. The Bible says laughter is great medicine. Here is how it works. I get you laughing, your mouth is open, then I put in the medicine.

The point I’m making here is this. Just like with my colonoscopy, sometimes we need to do something we hate to get to something we love. I hated the process but loved the results, I’m fine. I don’t have polyps or colon cancer. And, Lord willing, the next time I need to have this is ten years away. I made step one, making it possible to make step two.

In the case of those who have or have had polyps or colon cancer, here’s some advice. The first step to getting you back to good health is for you to take the first step of a colonoscopy to get you to the second step of treatment so you can have the possibility of the outcome of good health.

In the case of COVID19, inconveniences abound. Many of us don’t like staying at home, social distancing, teaching their children, wearing masks, or watching movies endlessly. The canceled business trips, vacations, weddings, or appointments are horribly inconvenient. I get it. But to the ‘fearless’ may I suggest that sometimes the only thing worse than wearing a mask is wishing you had. Sometimes the only thing worse than staying at home is wishing you had. You see, in our current, high-risk predicament, reasonable caution is our friend, not our enemy. We are taking step one to get to step two.

Please notice I said, reasonable caution. There will not be a perfect scenario where or when it will be entirely safe for everyone in the world to walk around without fear of disease or some type of calamity. Not everything will be perfect this side of heaven. Jesus said that in this world there will be tribulation. He also went on to say "Fear not."

His point was not to let the fear of death or calamity ruin our lives but to allow God and God’s wisdom to run our lives. God, in Jesus, came in a human form. As a human, His death, burial, and then resurrection was to free all of us who cower through life, scared to death of death. He showed us not to be scared to death of death, and not let fearful others scare us into being scared to death of death. He did something He hated (dying) to get to something He loved (eternal life). He took step one to get to step two.

Remember when I said the only thing worse than staying at home is wishing you had? There will come a time when the opposite of this will be the correct thing to do. The only thing worse than getting back to normal is wishing you had. There will come a time when the risk is managed, and the reward of getting back to life again is more significant than the risk of dying. There comes a time when the 'treatment' of erring on the side of caution, is worse than the 'cure' of getting going again with life. There comes a time when the ‘fearful’ will need to take step one to get to step two to get to something they really want, which is life.

Here’s your takeaway. Make sure you test positive for faith. Keep your distance from doubt. Isolate your irrational fear. And trust God through it all.