Reflections on Sickness

"No way, it's my turn to get sick". That was my response to one of my two close friends here in Takai, Kano state when he told me he wasn't feeling too well. You see, the both of them have been sick so often since we got here that I've lost count. Well I needed a little pampering too.

"The day you get sick ehn..." he retorted.

Then I touched the ground with the tip of my finger, touched it to my tongue and lifted it to high heaven in an "I swear" gesture. "Until January when we leave here, I swear I will never be sick". It was a foolish gesture I remembered from primary/secondary school days but I quickly followed it up with a prayer in my heart, "Lord, protect me from illness. Let me not be sick till NYSC is over."

That was last night.

At about 2 a.m. this morning, barely six hours after we had our little conversation, I woke up for what I thought was a routine nighttime sleep break (if you get what I mean) but as I got back into bed I noticed that I was feeling more than a little cold (that's saying a lot for Kano). My joints were aching a bit and I didn't feel altogether. I began tossing and turning and it was all I could do to get back to sleep. By morning my temperature was up and my abdomen was churning, threatening to expel it's contents the wrong way and I had one bout of ... (think I should stop there). I tiptoed out of the room, not wanting my roommate to realize that I was indeed sick, and went to get some Fansidar. And guess what. Yup. I puked! Yuk!! Okay Doosuur, believe it or not, you just asked God not to get sick and see what you get in return.

Needless to say, my friends had a good laugh.

Well, I still don't understand it. Part of me suggests that when I swore not to get sick, I was being proud and seeking my own honor as an "insider" in God's affairs, rather than His own honor. Another part of me says I should not have made that swearing gesture. Yet another voice in my head says it's God's way of poking fun at me: "so you think you can push me around huh?"

Well, I don't know. This email is more about questions than answers. At the end of the day though, my lessons are:

Let your yes be yes and your no be no.

It's God's body and God's show and He can do pretty much what He pleases

And yes, I'm getting better, Glory to God.

Love you all.

Doosuur