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I Was Oblivious To What I Already Knew

Sometimes you can be oblivious to a reality even though you’ve been informed about it.

I was oblivious to what I already knew

… That statement might need a little explanation. 

Recently I needed to see a doctor. Though there is lots of news concerning the deficiencies in our medical system, it didn’t hit me until I tried to use the system.

In my previous post I wrote about poking myself in the ear with a Q-tip (read here). Well, after several days – a week, to be precise – I decided to make an appointment with my doctor.

I thought it would be as simple as phoning the doctor’s office to make an appointment – boom, done. Instead I was told I couldn’t get in to see my doctor for a couple of weeks! 

The receptionist and I thought maybe I should try a quicker solution, but it wasn’t an emergency so going to the hospital didn’t seem like the right approach. 

The decision was made to try the after hours walk-in clinic my doctor’s office is connected to. Even though the words “after hours” didn’t have a good ring to them, at least I could go that day. I was told to go right when it opened to make sure I got into the clinic. My wife, Lily, then warned me to get there even earlier. 

When I arrived twenty minutes before the walk-in clinic opened, I was fourth in line. 

I had twenty minutes to kill standing outside in line to get in to see a doctor.

I‘ve stood in lines before. One time back in 1974, I stood in line on Yonge Street in Toronto outside A&A Records to purchase tickets to see Elton John in concert. Now that was standing in line! We were about ninth in line and waited from 9 pm to around 7 am the next morning when the tickets went on sale. 

… The stories of that night could fill a few blog posts. But that was late summer and warm outside.

Not the other day, standing twenty minutes outside in damp, 0° Celsius weather. 

The line of people grew and there were several parents with children, young children and babies, lining up to see a different kind of rock star – a doctor.

I couldn’t help but think that the sight was something you would see in a war-torn, third world country. Sick people were standing out in the cold to get treatment for their sicknesses. 

I used to stand in line to play shinny hockey, but at least we could stand inside the foyer of the arena in a climate-controlled temperature. 

When they did let us in – one by one, after we signed in and took a number – you really got a sense of how sick some people were. There was a constant noice of babies, children and adults coughing and sniffling. 

I don’t think sick people should have to wait outside in the cold to get medical help. There has to be a better way.

I’d heard that there are deficiencies in our medical system but, until yesterday, I didn’t really get it. 

Here’s the thing: We can hear about God, about what Christ did on the cross, but still be oblivious to it. It is when we take the time to investigate the reality of what God has done for us that we really are able to get it. Seek who Christ is and what He has done. Then let that knowledge impact your life.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you know about but don’t really know? Leave your comments and questions below.

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My Wait Time Doesn’t Seem To Get Shorter

Our world is moving at a fast pace, but I still have wait times which don’t seem faster.

my wait time doesn't seem to get shorter

The thing about waiting is that it doesn’t matter how little or how long you wait, it still seems like an eternity.

I can’t imagine 150 years ago what it must have been like to wait for something that had to come from another continent. It must have seemed like a lifetime of waiting. But then again, in those days everything moved at a slower pace. 

Now we have things that are immediately available. 

If you are hungry today you can be eating in a matter of minutes, no matter where you are.  There is fast food and convenience stores on every corner. 

Years ago a meal took time to prepare, unless you took some berries off a bush or something. 

Hey, maybe they had raspberry bushes and apple trees on every corner … though, too bad if they were hungry in the winter.

No matter how fast things are made available, we still have to wait and that wait time is so hard.

Amazon is amazing with its delivery service. There have been a couple of times when I ordered something one day and it was delivered the next. I couldn’t believe how they could get that product to me so quickly. 

But even still, there was a wait time. It’s not like going to a store and being able to purchase that item on the spot. There is no wait time there, except for waiting in line to get to the cashier to pay for said item.

Waiting is part of life and there are studies that tell us how much time we will spend waiting in our lifetime. One such study says an average person will spend six months of their life waiting in line for things.

That’s a lot of waiting! 

Think of all the things you could do in that time. You could take a long trip, an extended vacation, or learn a new skill. You could build a project … except you might have to wait for some of the pieces to arrive. 

No matter how fast life is, waiting seems like an eternity.

Recently I was waiting for three things. 

I ordered something from Amazon and waited for my two-day guaranteed delivery to arrive. It was only two days but I kept checking online to see if it had shipped yet. 

I was also waiting to hear back from an associate about a position I have been volunteering in. Things have changed and I was waiting to hear if I was still needed. 

And I’m waiting to hear back if I will get a new bike frame.  

I cracked the frame of my mountain bike, but the company has a lifetime guarantee on their frames. My bike store has sent in pictures and my receipt. Now I’m just waiting to find out what they will do. 

Wait time is never fast; it’s never easy. And it is something we will never get away from … no matter how fast life becomes. 

Here’s the thing: Though we will never get away from waiting, there is one thing that we never have to wait for. We never have to line up or wait on hold to talk to God. He is never too busy for us right now. There is no place we can be where we can not reach Him immediately. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What are you waiting for that you could speak to God about right now? Leave your comments and questions below.

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