E.R. Comes to Golfview

Last weekend, while playing around at home slapping hands with JFK, I noticed that his right thumb was swollen to approximately 2-3 times its normal size. I was startled by the sight of it and I asked John what had happened. In characteristic fashion, John hesitated to answer my question, not saying much beyond telling me that it had been that way for over a week. It looked horrid, like it was badly infected, and he was due to be at work at Gattitown in an hour. At that moment I remembered that Scott was planning to come over to the Golfview House that morning to work on painting the kitchen. I asked Maria, who was also shocked at the state of John's thumb, to call Gattitown and tell them that John would probably be late today. Then John and I got into the car and went on up to the Golfview House where we were glad to find Scott working busily along with Troy, Mike, and their next door neighbor Josh. I broke into their work party and showed Scott John's thumb. Even Scott had a hard time believing that John had been walking around for over a week in such a state. He couldn't fathom how John could be tolerating that kind of pain. I asked him what we should do and he said that the most important thing would be to "drain" the thumb and clean up the wound. So, I quickly went back down to the house and got a needle, a lighter, some alcohol, a tube of neosporin, and some bandages. Then the stage was set for Scott to "drain" John's thumb while the rest of us watched. Honestly, it was pretty gross. But on another level it was really wonderful to watch Scott care for John. It was a great example of a group of friends attempting to care for each other's needs with what they have at hand. It was nice to do it together in one of our homes, without the distance and separation that is usually associated with such affairs. It gave me hope about what God is doing in our midst, helping us to learn about a more wholistic and grounded way of life together. At the end of it all, we were even able to get John to work on time!