It doesn’t take much to disable a person. All it takes is one serious fall. I fell yesterday and I can hardly get around—even with my staff. Oh—I guess I haven’t told you about my staff. I was using a cane to get around for a while, and I had three physicians (2 in our church) tell me it wasn’t tall enough; that I would fall on my face. So, I made a staff. It’s tall enough. In fact, I had to cut it down since it was too tall. An old push-broom for the handle (sanded and sealed), a handlebar grip at the top (from a grandchild), and a rubber foot that fits over the Southend. On the very top was an ugly wood protrusion. So we pulled the grip up to within an eighth of an inch, and I glued (Gorilla glue) on the top a brass Australian One Dollar coin that looks real sharp!

Now, I should have been using the staff, but I thought I was doing OK without it. Serves me right, I guess.

At any rate, I’m holed up for a while. Time for even more blogs! Providence, as I noted in a couple of other places. It’s just that now the knee is so swollen that I can hardly get around—even with the staff. If you want to get some idea of what I’m talking about, think back to those early pictures of Bin Laden going down a hillside with a staff, and you’ll get the idea.

Falling is bad enough. It’s worse when no one is at home. I had to slide myself over half of the house before I could get to a sofa onto which I could pull myself up (no kneeling on sore knees!). After that, life sorta’ began again.

If you need a cane—use it! That’s the moral of the story. But the principle extends to all kinds of situations. If you need to lean on another to accomplish _______________ [you fill in the blank], then ask for help. There’s no disgrace in doing so. Don’t become over confident about matters that are even slightly doubtful, as I was. Take the further step to be cautious. Otherwise, you may find yourself sitting in one chair all day long, writing blogs!