More cheese!

When Goethe lay dying, he called for "more light!". In the fictionalized version of my life, as I lay dying of some unknown disease, the writer might have me call for "more cheese!". Not because I'm such a fan of the pizza topping, but because it would go so well with my other excess: whine.

I'm a whiner. A perfectionist and a nit-picker, sure, but I don't keep my mouth shut about it. I share with the world (my wife) where the current event missed perfection. "Great meteor shower, sure, but there were only one or two a minute. If there could have been five or six a minute, that would have been fantastic!" "Yeah, I got the latest Supertones album for less than five dollars delivered, but I should have been able to get it months ago!"

"Six days? I don't know why God couldn't have done it in one day, giving me a six-day weekend."

No matter the level of perfection, I can see a way it could have been better. Yes, God had His reasons for taking six days to create the world, and I shouldn't take it personally that he didn't take my weekends into account (except that He probably did - six days of "rest" are not necessary for a day of work).

So last week I was sick -- sicker than I've been for a while. I took a day off work, and barely left the house for two days. I was trying all sorts of variations of cough/sneeze/blow. My head hurt, my muscles were weak, I wore out easily, and I was just generally yucky. I was truly sick.

But I didn't count my blessings. I still had a job I could call in sick to, and they would take me back when I got well. I had a warm house to recuperate in. I had a wife who was well and could help take care of me. I had a Great Physician who would heal me in His time. No fever, no delerium, no sleepless nights.

What I want is to have a little less whine, and to call for "more light!" while I can still share it with the world.

So help me God.