Advent- Fighting a bug.... on the road to Bethlehem?

Isaiah 60:2-3

“For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross
darkness the people; but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and
His glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come
to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.”

TEXT

"In the world’s northern hemisphere Advent comes at the darkest time of the year. It is a time of year when people light candles, string up lights, and set out luminaria to drive the cold dark away. Throughout the Bible darkness is a powerful symbol for the death and destruction that ravage and destroy. Conversely, light is a Biblical symbol for life, life to the fullest, life in never ending joy and delight." T. Smith  http://www.waterfromrock.org/2012/12/12/december-12-2012/

It was a very dark night here in South Dakota last night. In fact, when I woke to pitch blackness at 3am, with those weird, flickering circles of light behind my sore eyeballs, I wondered if the night had been a dream, more accurately, a nightmare. 

No, the bath towel was still on the floor next to my bed in case I lost my cookies, the coconut juice-box was in a bowl of melted ice on the counter, the disgusting mug of now cold beef broth was on the floor. And I was tender and sore from head to tail. It all came back. 

Yesterday morning was a little .... "hmm, do I feel OK?"  I was reading my published piece for my Friends of the Library meeting-was it nerves that kept me, well, scouting for the facilities?  I enjoyed our usual chatty group, introduced my mother, read and then, left for her friend's wedding.  There I located  the restrooms, but I couldn't really be sick. I don't get sick and after all, I ate my weight in smoked salmon at the wedding reception- well, not quite but it was delicious.

I got home and well,  it only go worse as the evening progressed.  I thought to myself, were there ever times on those donkey rides, so long ago, that a intestinal virus hit the little family? The first ride was to Bethlehem, and then after Christ's birth, they fled to Egypt- again on a donkey if we believe the art. Somewhere along the road they must have drunk some bad water!   Boy, I could relate last night- I  hadn't thought to stop and buy ginger ale when I was in town- I don't get sick. The ginger tea I made myself was yuck, everything was yuck.  And by the time I realized just how sick I was, I was on my own. My single friend is out of town, my brother and neighbors all go to bed about 8pm. These are hardworking, early rising people. I wasn't going to call anyone, I was not really dying, I  just wanted to. 

Finally, realizing I was clearly getting dehydrated,  I did some research- I had more information at my fingertips that Mary and Joseph dreamt of.  The bright light stabbed my eyes- but I read quickly; bananas- check, water with salt and sugar- check (beef broth with sugar- shudder), psyllim- check and coconut water- check. I ate the banana, drank the hot broth, mixed the psyllim in water and was downing the coconut water when I read further, "Sip the liquids, preferably cool, and don't eat solids."

Now the worst began- I was not longer glued to the loo, I was sitting on the side of the tub deciding if it was worth it to drink more salt water and empty my stomach, too.  Lord, I hate to throw up. I hate to be sick. It brings out all the... "I am alone in the world and there is no one to hold my hand, run to the store or wipe my face."  I wanted my husband- who wasn't the best nurse but did rise to the occasion when I was really sick. And last night,  I was really sick. I ended up laying on the floor waiting to die.  Freezing, clutching a heating pad to my body.  My head pounded, my stomach gurgled, all the details of John Steinbeck's short story " Sweet Thursday" that I read that afternoon churned in my mind- was I drunk?  There's lots of drinking in Steinbeck's writing but no, I was not wasted- well, yes I was but at least I hadn't inflicted this on myself. 

It was just a long, dark night of the ... body.  I woke stiff and aching on my floor and crawled into my bed, still clutching the heating pad, heedless of the electromagnetic bombardment. Go ahead, kill me, get it over with.  Irrationality in the middle of a bout of flu?  Why not- nothing in my body was working, why not lose my mind. I was no longer a well oiled machine- I was empty of fluids, likely dehydrated and exhausted.

But in those night hours, something worked.  My body fought off the bug, all the home remedies kicked in and while I woke to a splitting headache and tender stomach, I had survived the night.  Amazing.


Clearly, Mary and Joseph AND baby Jesus all survived their travails too. So take heart if this Advent season includes some unexpected "darkness"- it's the human condition.  Merry Christmas.

Throughout the Bible darkness is a powerful symbol 

for the death and destruction that ravage and destroy

PS - I got ginger ale and orange sherbet today. That's been dinner. Don't think I'm ready for solids. But I did cheat the darkness!