Wanted: Bible Thumper

Bible thumpers don't have a very good reputation. But I could really use one. Ben has even considered becoming one himself; he tested the bibles in my study the other day to see how heavy they are. He was surprised that those New Interpreters Bible volumes aren't nearly as weighty as they look, and cannot commend them for bible thumping activities.

Why, you ask, am I in search of a bible thumper?

I have a cyst on my wrist. (Say that five times fast.)

It's a ganglion cyst, otherwise known as a bible cyst. The reason for the folk name is because the old school way of dealing with them is to - you guessed it - thwack them with the family bible.

Ouch. This is not the recommended method; the new school method is to either drain it with a needle or surgically remove it altogether.

It first developed in the summer of 2010, when I was writing so much my wrists could hardly keep up. I had a lot of pain but no visible reason. First I was told we should do an MRI because the smallest cysts could cause significant pain, and then, after the expensive MRI, I was told that the cyst was too small to cause pain. Well, it isn't small anymore. It's a nice big nob of ouch.

We're not going to thump it with the New Interpreters Bible, or the Discipleship Bible, or the hands-down winner of the heavy prize, the Archeological Study Bible.

But I have to admit: I kind of like the fact that I have an ailment that could be healed by the Word of God.

At the beginning of this Lenten season, I'm considering how else I might invite sacred scriptures to be an agent of healing in my life... just perhaps a little less violently.