I’m currently reading Paul Brand’s The Gift of Pain, which I selected as a change from all the C.S. Lewis I’ve been reading. I’ve only read one other book by Brand, but I really love the stuff he writes. He simply presents the human body in all its glory, which in turns brings to light numerous truths…the other book I read, Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, relates human body parts to the various parts of the Body of Christ.
Anyway, I’m about half way through the current book and the entire book so far has been describing how pain works the result of painlessness…which is the true problem that cripples lepers. One of the interesting things is that Brand explains how pain signals are constantly being sent to the brain, but in the subconscious a decision is made whether to listen to it or not. An example is when you sit in a chair...at first you feel fine, but if you don’t move you start to listen to the subtle messages saying to move. If you don’t move the signal will become stronger and stronger. What makes this interesting is that the brain actually gets to “decide” if something is painful or not. As a result if someone is really focused on something the pain messages will be ignored…Brand said that he can tell if his lectures are boring by how often the audience readjusts in their seats.
I told you this because while I’ve been thinking about pain a short story from my youth came to mind. It was the first time I shaved…I was probably about 4 or 5 years old. I had watched my dad shave in the mornings and thought for some reason you take this device and rub it all over your face each day. So one day while I was taking a bath I decided I should do this. I was playing in the tub and getting my “shaving” done when all of a sudden I noticed the bath water was really red. Then after a few confusing moments I figured out the red water was the result of numerous cuts on my face. I immediately started to scream, my mom came and got me, and then I spent the rest of night laying next to my dad while he held a towel on my face to stop the bleeding.
What made me think of this story was that I never felt a thing while slicing up my face because I was focused on having some fun in the bath tub. Once I realized I was bleeding my focus was put on the cuts, and man it didn’t feel good anymore. The body is a funny and marvelous thing.
3 comments:
How wonderful it is that you kept your promise!
I thought you would put here the story you told me the other day about how people died because they lost the sense of pain.
This can be a huge topic. I expect you to write more about it after you finish the book.
I was tired, but I just couldn't let you down...well it might of had something to do with waiting for my laundry.
Oh I'm sure I'll write about pain some more...it is such an interesting topic.
I started reading "gift of pain" last night. Although I just finished one chapter, it was absolutely fascinating! Thanks again for introducing all the books. I wish I had more time for them.
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