The Punch

UUMPH!!!

The first time I heard that sound, it came out of my own mouth after I landed smack down flat on my back after attempting to swing and skip two bars on the jungle gym at school when I was like in second grade.  Uumph!  Then you find yourself gasping for a breath as hard as you can and for just a brief moment, you think you're going to die.  But......finally...you take in just enough air to fill your lungs again and thoughts of death go poof!  

I've either made or heard that sound numerous times throughout my advancing years.  I made it when Mike Rolland and I were goofing after some boxing movie we watched at kids and Mike delivered a blow that chipped on of my front teeth...uumph!!!  It's the sound I've made when I have been pushed down under a horrific wave, thinking that I'll never make it to the surface again, but then...you do and what escapes from your lips is, uumph, then a big deep breath.

That's the sound of the "Punch."  It comes as unexpectant as news that delivers a blow.  Sometimes you can hear it coming, other times it is silent.  Whichever way it comes; it comes and knocks the air out of you.  It messes with your equilibrium and you often end up shaking your head to make sure it's still intact.

The Punch is part of life.  I don't like it, never have.  It came this past Sunday morning, 15 minutes before I was to stand in front of the congregation and say, "...the Lord be with you" which the congregation then says back to me, "...and also with you."  My mom-in-law's cancer is back.  Uumph!!!  Kathleen called me to tell me.  Uumph!  Then I get to stand and tell folks that God is with them.  Uumph!  Then I tell them about the mom-in-law, about Kathleen, about Kathleen's dad and her brothers who love their wife, who love their mother; all of who hoped for better outcomes than this.  Uumph!!!

I really have no words to explain the Punch.  "The Lord be with you..."  I certainly hope so...

-M-