
My graduation several years ago!
Last week was graduation week at Tulane and as usual, I was minding my own business at work. My office is located in a building across from the university stadium where all the ceremonies were going on, hence it was not surprising that some graduates and their families wandered into the building for some cool air or bathroom breaks. I was walking out of my office suite to head to the bathroom when I noticed this couple outside. The woman, who was middle-aged, was dressed like she was going to the Oscars – she had on a black elegant dress, high heels, and perfectly done makeup. I could tell she was the graduate because she had her gown and graduation cap on.
Despite being dressed for the occasion, the woman was having a medical emergency and had kicked her fancy shoes off. She was experiencing hypoglycemia and had a strained look on her face. Her husband was trying to keep her sitting upright on the chair outside my office as she slowly slipped to the floor and was breathing heavily. He tried to get her to drink some water and all I could hear from her was “Get me a coke!” She no longer cared about her graduation cap that was falling off her head, neither was she bothered that her expensive dress was touching the floor. She was in crisis. The husband explained to me that she was prediabetic and had not eaten all day. It was already late afternoon. Through her deep breaths she stated that she did not eat breakfast because she was too excited to be finally graduating. Her husband begged me to get her some candy or anything sweet.
I knew there was no soda machine in my building, so I ran back to my office and rummaged through my stash of snacks. Like a newly minted New Orleanian, I had a pack of pralines that I grabbed and dashed back outside. I gave the pralines to the woman's husband, and he literally shoved a huge piece into his wife’s mouth. I was about to call for help but he stopped me and explained that once she had some sugar, she would be fine.
I was already late for a meeting, so I rushed to the bathroom as she chewed on the praline and drank some water. By the time I go back, barely 2 minutes later, she was back to her normal self and sat back in the chair. I offered to have our campus EMTs examine her, but she declined. She smiled and firmly told her husband to get the car as the graduation party was waiting at home. She thanked me profusely and walked outside to wait for her husband. Later that day I reflected on this encounter and asked God for the lesson in this. Here goes.
Sometimes we get caught up in happy and exciting moments in our lives and forget to nourish the inner parts of ourselves that sustain us and protect us. We go to great lengths to maintain this outward made-up look and dutifully play the part society has written for us without anyone noticing our vulnerabilities. You see prayer and the word are often not a priority for most of us when we are in celebration mode. We underestimate the value of hiding the word in our hearts and keeping its utterance on our lips to stay fortified. We run on the adrenaline of a victory and forget that our spiritual tanks are getting drained when we defer moments of retreating and meditating on scripture.
It is not until we run into adversity that we remember that we have not been feeding our spirits and have nothing within us to draw from. Suddenly our outward selves that we work so hard to maintain for society begin to show the cracks. However, God is so faithful and gracious that He shows up to hold us up and water us. He is true to His promise to never leave us even when we forget to feed our spirits with His word. He never leaves. It is us who drift away and get carried away by the cares of this world.
I don’t know the last time you stopped the busy tasks of your life and fed your spirit with the word. Is this part of your daily routine or have you deferred reading the word and spending time with the Father? Today, if you have drifted away and your spiritometer is low, stop by the Living Well. Take a drink from the well that never runs dry. You never know when adversity will be around the bend. Don’t go into spiritual hypoglycemia. There may be no heavenly pralines to resuscitate you. Get hooked on the word!
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