This year would be different.  This year those rose bushes wouldn't win in the yearly spring pruning battle. This year I wouldn't have the scars from the battle upon my body.  

Why do I do this every year?  It's simple.  I love having fresh cut flowers such as roses in my house, so I have been willing to tackle this annual task. This year I was better prepared. I wore long sleeves, my thick Duluth overalls and had gloves on as I worked on pruning back the rose bushes.   In the past, the rose bushes with their thorns have left evidence  upon me that I have tackled the job of pruning them.   I was hoping to avoid that this year.  And it worked or so I thought. I came out with not a single scratch. Unfortunately right as I was cleaning up the area one little thorn tore right through my glove,  and somehow in the process a splinter entered my hand. 

​Usually it is best to immediately remove a splinter.  I didn’t.  I left it under my skin.  It didn’t really hurt and I thought it would just work out of my skin naturally.

Only it didn’t.  And it has been a month.  This little splinter has become permanently embedded under my skin, becoming a tiny little irritation that I look at and feel frequently.  An irritation that could possibly continue to grow even possibly to infection.  So I must get out the tools; the tweezers, magnifying glass, and perhaps even sharp edge of a razor blade to remove the splinter.  What would have been so easy to remove is now going to be a major pain. 

As I have been chastising myself for not removing the splinter the day it entered  my skin, I have been comparing  that with the little annoyances or irritations that come into our spiritual lives.  Both need to be removed quickly or damage can be done.    A physical splinter is really minor compared to the splinters we allow into our hearts - disrupting our love for one another.  It starts innocently, we simply become annoyed with a situation or a person.   It is either something someone says or does that we allow to get under our skin, and annoy us.  Perhaps it is repeated annoyances with another.  These begin to grow and fester rapidly morphing into a major grievance.  Forgiveness is no where to be seen. We begin to think ill of the person, perhaps we try to avoid the person or worse yet speak ill of the one we have allowed to get us into a full blown state of contention. 

I wonder if this is what happened with two sisters in Christ, Euodia and Syntyche, that Paul speaks of in the book of Philippians?  These two women will forever be known as the two sisters who couldn’t get along. 

Therefore my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, so stand firm in the Lord my beloved.  I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord.  Indeed, true comrade, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.    Philippians 4: 1-3

Take a closer look at this.  These two women were workers in the Kingdom, sharing with Paul in his struggle for the gospel of Christ.  Wow.  That is amazing to be mentioned in the word of God as a fellow worker for the cause of Christ.  They must have been hard working women who put Christ first  choosing to commit to work for His cause- to further the gospel.  

But.

What an awful little word, three letters that can often negate the good.  Three little letters that when put together can be like a thorn ripping out the good and replacing with pain. 

But.

They couldn’t get along.  They were out of harmony and therefore causing disruption in the work and the love of the church at Philippi.  There was a splinter festering in their hearts. To the point that the Apostle Paul had to mention it in his letter- to this group of Christians whom he considered his crown and joy.  His plea was to help these two women, these two workers for the Lord - to get along.   How sad to be known as the two women who couldn't get along. 

While we will never know the source of the splinter nor the outcome of Paul’s admonition, I do wonder.

I wonder if Euodia and Syntyche prayed earnestly for each other.

I wonder if Euodia and Syntyche tried to talk to one another about the splinter between them.

I wonder if Eudoia and Syntyche loved - really truly loved- one another.


Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins.  1 Peter 4:8
​

​It’s time for me to remove the splinter in my hand.  I've allowed it to stay for too long, so now I must do the hard - slightly painful work - of removing the foreign object before it becomes a permanent part of my skin - potentially damaging the tissue they are under. 

Perhaps it’s also time to remove splinters from our hearts - and do the hard work of praying and loving those who have gotten under our skin, before it festers,  damaging our ability to love unconditionally as our Lord wants us to. 

I hope that Euodia and Syntyche were able to remove the splinter that caused the disharmony.  I hope they followed the rest of the Apostle Paul's admonition found in Chapter 4 of Philippians.   Please forgive my paraphrase of Philippians 4: 6-8.

~Be anxious for nothing  (Don't get all worked up about the things that irritate, or bother)
~Let your requests  (anything your are concerned about ) be known to God
~Have a grateful heart when you do so
~Think on the true, honorable, right, pure, lovely and good (about the other person- or whatever is annoying to you)
~Dwell on the good


Thats how we remove splinters from our hearts and in so doing cover a multitude of sins.  

Sometimes you run, sometimes you walk and sometimes you have to be carried- be it spiritually or physically.  My little dog Dooley has been reminding me of that lately.  I have a 3 mile stretch that I like to run regularly.  I will often take him with me, since he loves to go.  But he is getting older, (as is his owner!)  Lately, it seems more often that not, we run a mile, walk a mile and then I carry him the last mile.   I suppose I should just leave him at home, but he just gets so excited when he sees me put on my running gear.  I don't have the heart to leave him, and so I take him, knowing that my upper body will also get a workout during that last mile as I have to carry him.  


It's funny when he gives out, he just stops and hunkers down in the road.  It's not that he slows down to a very slow walk and then stops.   No,  he goes from a little wiener dog run with little legs just a moving to a dead stop in an instant.  It is as if his weight doubles or triples when he hunkers down. He actually feels heavier as I try to coax him to go just a bit further. There is no coaxing him to move another muscle, even that tail that wags so freely, ceases its constant motion.  And so, I pick him up, and carry him the last mile.   Not long after I have picked him up, that tail starts to wagging again, and he usually looks up at me to try to give me a "thank you" lick.

My running is for no other reason that to clear my head and pray.  Oh, yes, the exercise is an added benefit, but really it is the clarity of mind I get when I run, that I have come to love.  I have a mind that gets distracted easily.  I used to journal my prayers, then in my early 40's I discovered running, and how easy it was to concentrate mentally, since when I run,  pretty much the only thing in my mind is drawing that next breath.   So running -short distances-became something I look forward to.  If I am training for a race, like Ragnar- (yay Ragnar!),  I don't take my little dog, although, (and you many laugh), he starts out running at a really really fast pace.  Seriously, faster than mine, which isn't saying much since I am a pretty slow runner!   But he is quite fast; those little dogs were born to hunt and chase, so he starts out really fast, then slows down to a 'jog', and then just stops and needs to be carried.  

Which is kind of like us, isn't it?   We start strong, slow down a bit, and then hit a brick wall.  We all need to be carried occasionally.  Whether it be devastating illness, emotional trauma, or whatever minefield we happen to have found ourselves in, we all need to be carried from time to time.  And while  the wonderful poem, "Footprints in the Sand",  reminds us that ultimately it is  Jesus carrying us,  I am thinking about the people God has placed in our lives, those who love us enough to bear our burdens when we are weary and carry us occasionally.   During a particularly trying time when my terminally ill mother was living with us,  I was growing very weary, feeling beat up physically, emotionally and spiritually.  A very dear friend reminded me of this story about Moses in which he and the Israelites were battling a foreign nation.

"So it came about, that when Moses held his hand up, Israel prevailed, and when he let his hand down, Amelek prevailed.  But Moses' hands were heavy.  Then they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and one on the other.  Thus his hands were steady until the sun set.  So they overwhelmed Amalek and his people."  Exodus 17" 11-13

This dear life long friend of mine said she would hold my hand up.  She said she would cover me  in prayer and support.  She and other good friends certainly carried me for a while.  It was what I needed.  It carried me through, until my spirit was revived -my tail could wag again-,  and I could again run or walk.   

We need each other.  We are meant to bear one another's burdens.    Sometimes you are the one carrying, and sometimes you are the one being carried.    If you are well enough to run - spiritually speaking-,  look for someone who needs a little help- someone who could use their 'hand being held up'.  Be someone's Aaron or Hur and do a little carrying.  After all, you never know when you will be the one needing a little carrying because sometimes you run, sometimes you walk, and sometimes you need to be carried.  


Authors note:
A shout out of thanks to Ann, Brenda, Dana, Judy, Karen, Keena, and my amazing husband, children and children in law.  You would make great pack mules...you carried me safely through those mountains of mine.  I'd carry you gladly anyday, anywhere.  Love you so!   Oh and you too Dooley!  Thanks for the lesson. :)