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9/5/00 First Love From:
Rob Payne <rob@everydayisprecious.com> Do you remember the first time you felt loved? For me, it was like every cell in my body was special - each and every cell. I've also felt that way in an outgoing sense - that is, there are some people whom I've thought each and every cell very special. This includes my children, especially when they were born and, of course, when I first started dating Marcy. Last Thursday we started using the wet cell device (the one used by the ALS survivor/author of "Hope Springs Eternal.") I won't bore you with all the details, but basically you take a plastic tub about the size of a bucket of chicken (oops - yes, we're still staying pretty close to our diet,) fill it 3/4 full with distilled water, then stir in a bunch of chemicals that you heard about in chemistry class. The lid to the bucket has two metal rods that reach from the top of the bucket almost to the bottom of the bucket. Each rod has a place to attach a wire. Each wire runs to a small metal cup. One cup is taped to Marcy's back (on her spine) and the other is taped to Marcy's abdomen. For
half an hour, Marcy lays on her back with these attached and relaxes
while listening to a self healing audio cassette tape. Small electric
impulses travel through her body, stimulating nerve cells into "talking"
to the muscle cells. Anyway, after half an hour of the wet cell, I massage Marcy's muscles for half an hour. I follow specific instructions from Atkinson and use massage oil "prescribed" by the program. I am ashamed to admit that it's only been a few nights, but before tonight (Monday,) I already hated the time and effort that this takes out of our lives. Selfishly, I would have rather relaxed, read, watched a movie, or any of the other things that we would have been doing before we began living to fight this disease. But tonight, as I was giving her a massage and I rubbed in the massage oil, I started thinking about each part I was rubbing. I starting thinking how very special is each and every cell of this living creature in my hands. I "re-felt" that special feeling of first love and I remembered Sunday's (not coincidental) Sunday School lesson titled "God Is Love." My hands felt empowered to transfer my love and God's love to and through Marcy via the massage oil. Then I realized that what I was doing was anointing Marcy with oil and found this, starting in James 5:13 -
OK, so I'm not an elder in the church. And Joseph Carroll did anoint Marcy with oil in Greenville (and they don't come much "elder" than him) so that should "take," right? I don't know that anyone can have too much faith or too much prayer. I do know that my attitude improvement about these treatments is a good thing for both of us. I'll use this time to "re-feel" every night. This time spent together is better than any of the things we used to do. Oops again - this is about Marcy, isn't it? She says the treatments feel like they are helping. We still have lots of other good things happening - this week:
If you are blessed to be with someone you love, don't wait on a disease to "re-feel" your first love. Try giving a massage. It only costs half an hour. Thanks. Rob |