Friday, February 21, 2014

Down a Slippery Slope

Watching Olympic skiers and snowboarders fly down their slippery slopes has been so much fun. I’m amazed at how their strength, hours of practice, and natural athleticism enable these athletes to control their speed as they whiz down the mountain-side.

Occasionally, the unthinkable happens. The athlete loses control and careens down the mountain. The consequences are devastating. After all the years of hard work, the athlete is disqualified from the event. Even worse, an out-of-control fall sometimes results in a major injury.

This afternoon I had my own encounter with a slippery slope. No, it wasn’t in the mountains. My mid-western home state has only gentle hills that closely hug the earth. No, it wasn’t on snow. While it has been a bitterly cold winter with lots of snow and ice, the past few days have been warm. Temperatures in the 40s and even 50s have melted most of the snow, so I wandered out on the nature trails. Ice lingered in the shaded spots, and the trails were wet and muddy, but I stayed on the sides of the paths, allowing the dried grass to provide a secure foothold.

One misstep is all it took. Stepping with my left foot on the gently sloping right side of the path, I felt my foot slide out from under me, and bam! I found myself in the mud. Resting on my left knee, the shin side of my right leg, and my right hand, I hurt. I wondered for a moment how long it would take my husband to find me on these meandering paths. My right wrist and leg hurt, but I quickly realized I wasn’t injured. I was able to get to my feet and continue walking. The pain lingered for a while, and the jeans would have to be laundered, but I came out no worse for the fall.

I am thankful I wasn’t injured in my fall down the slippery slope. As I continued walking, I thought about spiritual slippery slopes. Some appear mountainous, like substance abuse or infidelity. Others seem like tiny little slopes, like gossip or criticism. We all have our own slippery slopes, don’t we? A fall down any of these, whether mountainous or tiny, can be deadly.

Unfortunately, we venture onto those slippery slopes of sin and we fall. Fortunately, our God is full of grace. He is willing to gently lift us up and dust us off. He whispers, "Go, and sin no more" and sets us back on level ground.





10 comments:

  1. Hi Nancy ... My, you are fortunate that you are ok! And let me say congrats on being included in this new book! How cool is that!

    Have a restful weekend ... a great excuse to stay off your feet!

    ;-}

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  2. Hi Linda! Fortunately, there are no lasting effects from my little tumble! Thanks, for the congrats; it was fun to get the email notifying me that my article was in! Can't wait to get the book and read the other articles.

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  3. Hi Nancy! I am so glad you didn't hurt yourself worse than you did. Oh my gosh, imagine having to wait in the cold for help! I like the way you compared it to the slippery slope of sin.
    I know I can be walking along thinking I am doing just fine..and whoops! I lose my concentration and fall. I have to stay awake at all times.
    Great post!
    Ceil

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    1. Hi Ceil! It's amazing how easily we can fall on this path of life, isn't it? Thankfully, our Savior will always be there to pick us up. Thanks for stopping by!

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  4. Loved this! I liked that you noted the size of the slope doesn't negate the effect of a fall. And you ended with such an encouraging word! Thanks for sharing.

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  5. Hi Nancy,
    I always think of metaphors when I fall, like standing on my own two feet or falling in love, and try to receive the message if there was one.

    I keep wanting to change the letters in your last name to say STRUM, becasue as a writer you are an instrument playing words.

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  6. It's interesting, Colleen, how you see my last name, and more importantly, why. It seems people always mispronounce our name, saying "Strum." Now when they do, I'll smile and remember your lovely comment. Thanks for the comment and thanks for stopping by.

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  7. Hi Nancy, glad to hear you weren't hurt in your fall. I like the spiritual parallels you found between the natural falls and spiritual ones. Good food for thought.

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    1. Hi Wanda, thanks for stopping by! I'm glad you liked the spiritual parallels. May we all avoid those slippery slopes!

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