Ancient Truth | Modern Sound

We normally traverse life not thinking of the blood that animates our bodies. In the scriptures of the Old Testament (as in many ancient religions) the opposite is true. There, eating of blood was forbidden as the blood contained the very life of the animal that had given up its flesh for the ancient Israelite. Maybe those old peoples were onto something.

Last Friday I started thinking about my blood - a lot. After several months of thinking I had some combination of tendonitis or just plain fatigue I went last Friday to the doctor to diagnose what was wrong with my left leg. After looking at the leg he turned to me and said a few medical terms that were only barely comprehensible. On the other hand when he said, “if you don’t fix this you could end up with no leg” I got that part loud and clear. Hmmm, that definitely doesn’t sound good. The doctor wanted to admit me immediately to hospital even though I was 500 miles from home in London (I had gone to see our company doctor up in Aberdeen). OK, I said reluctantly, I will do this.

Americans ask what socialised medicine means. It may indeed be good, even great, in Canada but at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary it leaves a lot to be desired. The admitting nurse took me to the acute trauma monitoring ward where he pointed to a bed in the ward (a ward typically has 6-8 beds in it) and said that’s your bed. I pointed to guy who was already in the bed and said, I am pretty sure this isn’t how it is suppose to work. Call me a newbie at hospital admissions but bed sharing isn’t normally in my experience the best practice.

It took me precisely 5 minutes to realise I had more chances of survival if I got back to my own place and checked into hospital somehow in London. But I couldn’t fly - at least that’s what the doctor said. So I walked out the ward and got a bus to the train station, called my wife in Houston, and bought a ticket for the train. The flight to London is 90 minutes, train takes a wee bit longer. First I took the train to Edinburgh which is about 3 hours (first class! - which means someone brings you a cup of tea and a piece of shortbread). In Edinburgh I had a three hour lay-over. It was Friday night and my train didn’t leave till midnight!

In the run up to my midnight train - which sounds sort of romantic but let me assure you it wasn’t - I indulged in comfort activities. I walked up to Edinburgh’s Royal Mile which runs on cobbled streets from the great castle down to the Queen’s residence at Holyrood. It is one of the best places in the world. It also has many great bars where I could have a glass of whisky. The thing about whisky is that it just doesn’t taste right in Houston, but on a dark, cold, windy night in Edinburgh it is golden and warm. As I walked back the station I hopped and wondered what life on one leg would be like. Probably not perfect. I put that thought behind me and bought some fish and chips. I could have prayed to our Lord Jesus to save me. Instead I had a haddock and chips and put off the spiritual comfort.

Not for long though. When I got back to the station I sat on a bench, fired up my lap top and did some email. Then I prayed and read a little from my bible. It was getting later now and the pubs were stating to empty out the night’s revellers who were heading home on the last train to wherever they were going. Two women said I looked cute - they looked cute too in a drunk and wasted kind of way. When I need inspiration I go back to the passage I read to my mum and dad to announce my conversion 2 Corinthinas 4:7 “But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. ⁸We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; ⁹persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; ¹⁰always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies.”

It was close to midnight; time to catch the sleeper train to London.