The Broken Toe

Long before the days of cell phones, there were wall phones.
Phones that kept you tethered to one place.
Phones that had cords that were either too short or much too long.

Growing up, everyone seemed to have black phones with a rotary dial.
Soon, princess phones, which were sleek in design, appeared.
Targeted to women, these phones had a backlit number display for dialing at night.

No matter the design or the color, you were confined to where the cord could reach.
Inevitably, you needed to reach something just beyond the length of the cord.
You stretched and reached as far as you could without actually laying the phone down.

There was always a chair near the phone for those lengthy conversations.
Tethered and public meant no privacy.
Not unless you sat on the basement stairs with the door partly closed.

There was no hiding; there was no solitude.
The phone rang without caller ID so it had to be answered.
The phone was taken off the hook during dinner, so as not to be disturbed.

There was always that annoying beep for a minute before the sound ceased.
Of course, you might get the voice of an operator telling you to hang up and call again.
Phone numbers, without area codes, were visible in a small rectangular box on the phone.

Phone company employees came out to install your phone or repair your phone if need be.
Phone numbers consisted of letters and numbers.
Phone books were distributed to every house once a year.

Phone booths in public places were not for the claustrophobic.
Phone books attached by a metal cord hung awkwardly in each booth.
People were known to stand outside quite annoyed if you were taking too long.

It was on one such wall phone that it happened.
I was talking to a dear friend that had called while I was making dinner.
I was newly married and my husband would be home very soon.

I walked around the kitchen with my long cord, trying to cook and talk to my friend.
It was summer and I was barefoot.
As I walked back to the sink, I stubbed my toe very badly on one of the kitchen chairs.

I grimaced and tried to end my call as politely as I could while in pain.
I looked down and my little toe was already badly bruised.
It seemed to be sticking out in a different direction, though I thought it was just swollen.

I made light of it when my husband came home.
I promised to ice it while he was at his MBA classes that evening.
When he left, it got worse and I drove myself to the emergency room.

It was indeed broken and needed to be reset.
I can tolerate pain, but that pain was intense.
I had to drive myself home with the instructions of taking aspirin for inflammation.

The toe could only be wrapped and comfortable sandals were all I could wear.
I took the aspirin as directed.
A few weeks later, I discovered I was pregnant with my first child.

I rejoiced but then worried about the aspirin I had taken before I knew I was pregnant.
I called the doctor and he assured me that it was fine.
How could an injury to something so small cause so much pain?

But in fact God has arranged the parts of the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, ” I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every prat rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.  (1 Corinthians 12:18-27)

If one part suffers, every part suffers with it.
How true!

My little toe was something I never thought about day after day.
However, when it was injured, that is all I thought about.
The pain in that little toe affected my whole body.

How true for the Body of Christ.
There are people who are barely noticed day to day.
We go along and never consider them.

However, if they are injured physically, emotionally, or spiritually we all are affected.
We cannot function as a Body when even the smallest member is injured.
We need to stop and address the problem, reset the break, and alleviate the pain.

Then new life begins.
Life that has been carried around inside before we even knew there was life.
Life that needs to be protected.

What part of your Body is hurting?
What part of your family’s body needs attention?
What part of your church family needs a break to be mended?

Nothing will be right until the break is repaired.
Wholeness and wellness in the Body is what God desires.
On the other side of the pain, there is healing.