Scratch My Back
After a 10 day hiatus I am back and ready for you to scratch my back.
What?
Last week my wife and I spent a wonderful week in Michigan with my brother, his wife and my mom. It was one of the best weeks I have had back home in a long time. We visited old vacation hot spots, spent time with cousins, ushered at a wedding and even got to surf some of the slop on Lake Michigan. It was a great visit until I got back to Las Vegas.
On Sunday it was a humid 85 degrees on the shores of Lake Michigan. Just about 25 degrees cooler than Las Vegas. I went out in the sun without sunscreen for 5+ hours. For the first time in 7 years I got a sunburn on my back that turned my body a shade of pink that I would not like to think about. The first two days after the burn were fine, that is until I landed back in Las Vegas. & years ago when I burnt my back I burnt it so badly that I damaged the nerve endings in my back. So now when I get a first degree sunburn my back feels like a 2nd or even 3rd degree burn even though it doesn’t show. By mid afternoon on Tuesday I was in so much pain and screaming / crying in agony that my wife had no choice but to drive me to the ER. 2 days later I am pain free and peeling like a banana.
For a few days I needed a back scratch, it was the only thing that felt like it could relieve the burning sensation I had. (Warning: cheesy metaphor ahead) Isn’t that how life goes sometimes? We have a burning need in our life for someone to scratch our backs? I was hurting and I needed someone to make my back feel better. But aren’t there times when we are hurting on the inside and we long to hear the words of encouragement from another? Times when we feel a deep need to be noticed, recognized or encouraged. We all need our back scratched from time to time by other people.
The problem with that is most of the time scratching our backs is not what we really need. I needed pain medication, lotion and to stay away from the heat for my back to heal. But scratching my back felt better. But it wasn’t what I really needed. Most of us if we got really honest with ourselves we would admit that the emotional scars, relational wounds and past hurts feel better when someone soothes our ears with words we want to hear, not words we need to hear.
Right now I really want someone to scratch my back, but that is not what I really need.
Right now do you have people scratching your back? Or telling you the truth?
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