Scotland Decides: Frozen Shoulder

Just back from another visit to the physio. We first got to know each other through the slipped disk in the back. We’ve moved on now to the frozen shoulder.

Well. So, a frozen shoulder occurs in stages. First there may or may not be an injury, but whatever triggers it, the shoulder becomes intensely painful to move. That may last any length of time, depending on ... nobody knows what it depends on. Just is.

Then it becomes restricted in its ability to move. The pain diminishes except when the arm tries to move into positions which the shoulder refuses to allow. Frozen. This may last from 4 to 24 months depending on ... nobody knows what. Just does.

That’s where I am right now. Stuck. Unable to move in certain positions. It could be much worse. I can still do most things and maneuver pretty well if I avoid putting my hand over my head or behind my back. 

The physio explained that the problem lies in a bit of soft tissue which embraces the socket, and which has thickened and thereby restricts movement. The body needs to reabsorb the thickness so it is thin enough to allow free movement. 

Sometimes pain locks us into certain mindsets. Emotional pain. Mental anguish. Psychological hurts. Childhood traumas. 

We want to avoid triggering the pain, so we learn to avoid thinking about certain things. We just don’t go there. We wall ourselves off, and as we do so, we become frozen, diminished in our ability to move, to think ‘outside the box’, to be compassionate perhaps, or forgiving. 

Frozen emotions lead to all sorts of problems. God addresses one in Scripture when he talks of our hardness of heart. He understands how hard it is to change our hearts ourselves, and as a tender and loving Father he promises to do it for us. ‘I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit in you...’ Ezekiel 36:26

My prayer for this day when Scotland decides its future, independent or united in Great Britain, all who feel passionately on both sides will be blessed with hearts of flesh, compassionate and understanding of one another’s points of views and ready to work together under whichever government wins, for the good of the people of this land.

We all struggle with areas of our hearts, of our minds, of our memories, which we’ve hardened off and which have frozen. May God renew and soften all of our hearts so that we may live lives of mercy, grace and love, inspired and enabled by his Spirit living in us.

Peace to you.

Hearts of Flesh

Hypocrisy is one of the most undesirable traits a person can have. Originally it was the word for an actor in ancient Greece, and didn’t carry the negative connotations of dishonesty which it now does. 

Although it’s one of the least desirable traits, and one from which we all would like to be distanced – especially in ourselves, I think it’s very easy for us to be hypocritical in one way or another, to one degree or another. 

Jesus calls us to honesty and truth, the opposites of hypocrisy. While it may be our aim as Christians to be totally honest and truthful, without the Spirit’s help we don’t stand much chance of really being that. 

Paul writes to the Corinthian church that God once gave out a set of rules in the form of commandments written on stone tablets, but that didn’t work. It didn’t work because we are not very good at following rules. Anyone who has raised a child knows that as soon as you say ‘Don’t....’ it becomes the child’s focus to do it.

So God’s tactic changed and after Jesus returned to heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit to, in a sense, be written on the hearts of believers. God had indicated that as a future plan way back thousands of years ago through the prophet Isaiah, when he said that in the last days he would pour out his Spirit on all believers, who would then dream dreams, prophesy, and be full of the knowledge and love of God.

It’s a glorious summer day up here in the northeast of Scotland, and as Dusty and I emerged from the cool shadow of the woods and onto the sunlit path, we found first one wee frog along the path, resting and soaking in the warm sunlight, then another, and finally a third. The last two were hopping around in the long grass, failing to absorb the warmth of the sun which the first wee frog was basking in.

Christians should be like the first frog. Resting in and soaking up the presence of God, not hopping about in our own power, trying to be good, trying to think good thoughts, but deep down, having hearts which still have at least a few pockets of stone which make us judgmental and critical. 

It’s only as we rest in the light of God that our hearts of stone are transformed into hearts of flesh, and our thoughts and impulses match our actions. 

So I’m off to rest in the presence of God for awhile. I don’t want to be a hypocrite with a heart of stone. I want a heart of flesh.