[dropcap]I[/dropcap]’ve been injured. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. I set myself a goal of writing one column a month; I set this goal in June, so I’ve already messed up. I have three bad reasons for that: (1). I’m lazy, and there’s no cure for that; (2). I had an excellent idea for a column about government ineptitude when a sign on the brand new sidewalk on Rebel Road read, “Sidewalk Closed,” then they spoiled it all by finishing the sidewalk and spoiling my turn at investigative journalism; and (3). I got bursitis in my right heel and my Doc said, ice and stay off it.
I’ve tried to teach Goldie the word, “leash” in the hopes that some day she would bring me her leash to me demanding to go for a walk. The closest she’s come to that was when she wistfully touched her leash as if to say, “When are we going to do this again?” It broke my heart.
I’ve thought about this as I’ve watched the goings on in Congress about the failure to replace Obamacare. But I’ve heard two things I thought I never would hear from Congress recently. The first was when the ailing Senator John McCain said that if we want a health care bill that works we have to work with each other. What a concept! The founding fathers actually put the system together this way so that they had to work across the aisle to get anything done. And we’ll not get anywhere unless and until Washington rediscovers that, in spite of the president’s tweets.
The other thing I thought I’d never hear was Congresspersons have actually used the words, “single payer.” I find this hopeful. I know the “Alt right” says “Socialism” when they hear those words, but when I hear a Miss America candidate say she thought healthcare was a privilege and not a right, that just boiled my blood. Healthcare has to be a right of every American or we can no longer say that we live in the greatest country on earth. Healthcare is a right and however we can get there, that’s what I’m for.
My heel still hurts but I’m going to get back to walking next week because I miss it just as much as Goldie does. And fixing that is as much a part of the healing process as the physical part is concerned.
Mark W Stoub is a retired Presbyterian minister and the author of Blood Under the Altar, and the forthcoming, The Fifth Trumpet: Fire in the Blood.
