By Les Ferguson, Jr.
Columnist
Cough, cough, sneeze, blow, sneeze, cough. For four days this past week, that
was my reality. All day long. My nose was raw, and everything hurt. There was
no fever, but you couldn’t have known that by looking at me.
One time, I happened to look in the mirror and was shocked at how blurry and
red my eyes looked. And tired, boy, was I exhausted. I had no energy at all.
If you haven’t figured it out yet, I was sick — little-boy-needing-his-mommy kind
of sick.
I managed to preach on Sunday before I fell into the poor-pitiful-me rabbit hole.
And that’s a good thing, because if Sunday had been Monday, someone at
church would have been winging it or digging out a sermon they had tucked
away.
Are you feeling sorry for me yet? No? Shame, shame.
Yet, in the best infomercial fashion, but wait! There is even more eyebrow-raising
pitifulness to behold.
By Monday afternoon, I was sick of being sick. Of course, you already know I still
have days to go. But anyway, I said to myself, “Why don’t you go down to your
man cave/shop and see if you can make yourself feel better by piddling around?”
So, I did. While making some cutting boards, I chose to use the table saw. That
was a bad mistake. I should have taken an anti-stupid pill and stayed inside the
house.
At church, we sometimes sing an old hymn that says there is power in the blood.
Of course, that song is about the blood of Jesus shed for humanity. But boy, let
me tell you, when a table saw meets a thumb and blood flows, there is enough
power to make your heart jump into your throat.
Thankfully, no stitches were required —j ust plenty of medical-grade super glue,
a steroid shot for the crud, and a prescription for an antibiotic. I’ll heal just fine,
but I should have begged for a stronger anti-stupid prescription — if such a thing
truly existed.

It’s amazing how easily we can make mistakes with painful, frustrating
consequences. Unfortunately, sometimes the repercussions exceed what super
glue can handle.
And that reminds me of Adam and Eve. It only took believing a lie, a desire for
the forbidden, and a momentary lapse in judgment for their world to be
completely changed. From paradise to hard work. From the Garden of Eden to
what will we feed the kids?
As I write this on Easter Sunday, I’m thankful for the promise of eternal life
through resurrection power. In the meantime, I cling to the words of Jesus:
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in
heart, and you will find rest for your souls.   For my yoke is easy and my burden
is light.” (Matthew‬ 11‬:28‬-30‬ CSB‬‬)