‘As the deer pants for streams of water so my soul pants for you, O God’. (Psalm 42:1)‘And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”’ (Matthew 3:17)
At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics Michael Johnson won the 200 hundred metres in a world record time of 19.32 seconds. About 3 months ago Johnson suffered a stroke and this week spoke about the experience and his recovery.
He couldn’t walk or move his left leg, the numbness in his arm was intense and moving his fingers problematic. He said he went through a lot of emotions and life suddenly became real. Doctors told him the best way to avoid a stroke is not to smoke, lose weight, work out and get fit; Johnson had been doing this all his life.
Physical rehabilitation started with Johnson going around the hospital with a walker, ironically for about 200 metres at a time. It took him 15 minutes not 19.32 seconds.
When we are young and fit and breaking records we don’t tend to think about the fragility of life. Progress for Johnson has been slow but he feels he is now returning to a more normal lifestyle. Not everyone is so fortunate.
Johnson’s experience made me think that I shouldn’t wait for a tragedy to happen before life ‘becomes real.’ There is family around me that I need to tell how much I love them, and friends I need to tell how much I value their friendship before it’s too late.
As a Christian it has impressed me that God told his Son how much he loved him and how pleased he was with him. I need to take a leaf out of God’s book how about you?
Have a good week telling someone you love them,
Pastor Barry
