My hand, one year later

One year ago today, I had surgery on my left index finger to remove a painful ganglion cyst. Today the surgical scar is almost unnoticeable and while the incision still feels a little funny at times, there is no impaired function whatsoever. I have full range of motion in that finger and it feels - and looks - good without that nasty cyst on it. In retrospect, I can honestly say that I am extremely glad that I did the surgery instead of a cheaper alternative, which would have been to aspirate the cyst and remove the fluid in it. Chances are, it probably would have come back and continued to bother me as it had for so long. This way, it's almost a guarantee that it will not come back again. The hardest part about the entire experience wasn't the surgery itself - it was the recovery afterward. I thought I'd never get full range of motion back in that finger again. The physical therapy was pretty grueling and painful at times and seemed to take forever. Fortunately, I made a full recovery and am glad that it's all overwith and that I had good medical personnel working with me throughout my entire experience with this thing. I had a very good surgeon who I really like who, should I ever have any more hand problems, I will most definitely see again. Hard to believe it's been a full year, but it has, and I am extremely glad that I did this in spite of the fact that insurance wouldn't cover the cost of the operation, yet another gripe about our growing health care crisis in this country. May this year be the year we finally rectify that situation!

UNDERSTANDING CHRISTIANITY

I've been reading this book called "Saving Paradise: How Christianity traded Love of This World for Crucifixion and Empire" by Rita Brock and Rebecca Parker and I am coming to realize that I really know nothing of Christianity beyond what we were taught in Catholic school, and even that was laden with far more guilt than I can cope with. I always hated how Mass seemed to focus on mourning Jesus's death instead of celebrating his life and what he did. Mass is a weekly re-creation of the Last Supper and I always found that confusing. Why focus on tragedy instead of celebrating life and all its gifts? Catholicism - and mainstream Christianity, for that matter - seem to focus so much more on preparation for death instead of focusing on celebrating life and living for today, here and now. I suppose that's why I ultimately went the way of the Unitarian Universalist Church, because I saw that as a way to seek a faith that taught me best how to appreciate the life we live here, today and now and how to best make it count. I've always been a tad obsessed with making a lasting impact on things because I will have no descendents, having never married or reproduced, meaning once my life is over, that's it. One hundred years from now, no one will know who I was, because I won't have any grandchildren to remember me, so I need to know that I can make a difference now so that someday, someone will recall who I was. I know it seems silly to obsess over this fact, but that's just something that has been important to me for a very long time now, especially as I grow older and watch my friends pass away too young. Getting back to the book, though, one of its premises is that early Christianity didn't focus on the crucifixion, death and all that modern Christianity entails. Rather, it focused on paradise, the here and now, making this life paradise. Early Christian art didn't depict the crucifixion and the dead Christ. It showed a living, breathing Christ in pastoral surroundings, reminding people of the message of the early faith before things changed in the Mediaeval period and depictions of the crucifixion became more prevalent. I'm not terribly far into the book yet to give a comprehensive review, but suffice it to say that I am learning far more than I expected to and I'd recommend it to anyone who has ever questioned modern Christianity's message. Trust me, this book will serve as a serious eye opener!