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October 18, 2020
On September 2nd, Dianne and I went to visit our daughter and son-in-law and our grand daughters in LaSalle. They have a beautiful home and a charming back yard with a two-level deck around a large swimming pool. The “upper deck” runs along the back of the house, and then there is a 6” drop to the “lower deck” that runs the circumference of the pool.
It was late in the evening, and we were sitting in the backyard talking. I had to go into the washroom. Although it was dark, I walked along the deck and into the house without issue.
As I was coming out of the washroom, I had a clear “thought” that I should call Dianne on her cell phone, tell her that I was tired, and then go to bed. I am absolutely convinced that it was the Holy Spirit who gave me that clear thought. Instead of obeying that thought (that “still small voice within”), I decided to go out into the back yard and tell Dianne in person.
As I was walking across the upper deck in the dark, I fell face down onto the cement of the lower deck. I was taken to the hospital by ambulance. I had fractured my nose, fractured C-4 (one of the vertebrae in my neck), significant abrasions on my face, and needed two stitches in the bridge of my nose. I had to wear a rigid Cervical Collar for the month of September.
A few days later, I was told that my nose had “fractured in place”, and it should heal without issue within the next 3 – 4 weeks. On Sep 28th, the Neurosurgeon told me that everything was healing nicely, and that I no longer needed to wear the Cervical Collar – what a relief. Now, I am about to start Physiotherapy on my neck. I do not yet know when I will be able to return to ministry or driving the school bus. If I had been obedient to that “still small voice within”, called Dianne on her cell and then gone to bed, none of this would have happened.
I urge you to listen to that “still small voice within” and be obedient to it. Of course, the next step is discerning which “Spirit” is speaking to us. That is a practice that is know as “Discernment of Spirits”. This takes prayer and practice. Every member of the clergy and religious, as well as any well-trained Catholics should be able to be of assistance in this area.
I often hear people ask – “why did God do this to me?”, or “why did God allow this to happen to me?”. The truth is that God loves us more than we could ever imagine, and He wants the absolute best for us, always!
God gave all of us free will – the freedom to make our own choices. He wants us to freely choose to “love Him with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind”, and to “love our neighbour as ourselves”. (Matthew 22, 37–39)
Now, the choice is up to each of us – I pray that we all choose wisely!
May God richly bless you and all those you love.
Deacon Steve