If you happen to be inhaling at the moment when the bug is entering your mouth, that is the absolute worse, because they get stuck in your pharynx (more technically the laryngopharynx). That is that little tube beyond the back of your throat that leads to your lungs and it is that soft sticky tube where bugs love to get stuck. This one got stuck.
When this type of bug encounter happens, you don’t know if you need to hurl, or sneeze, or cough, or blow yourself up, and your body threatens to do all four at the same time. The real problem is that I am on a bicycle, clamped to the pedals, moving at 17 miles an hour, so doing any of the above is super challenging. So I spend the next 15 miles trying to dislodge this insect from behind my epiglottis, but seems to have locked it’s toenails in really deep and thus I have this nearly impossible-to-resist urge to claw my throat out and eject this bug . . . I almost crashed the bike about 14 times as I attempted to remove this intruder who was so unwilling to go.
I finally got him/her out . . . or in . . . I am not really sure. Either I finally spit him out or swallowed him completely, but eventually I no longer felt him crawling around in there. But he certainly got me to thinking and he certainly got my attention.
I have already described the attention side . . . so what about the thinking side? Well, this bug problem reminds me of the passage in James 1, where when the lusts of our hearts creates a temptation, and when lust has conceived it gives birth to sin, and when sin is accomplished it brings forth death. The tenacity of the lust - sin - death cycle is just like a bug flying down your throat as you are sailing along on your bike. First of all it is sudden. You are happily sailing along when WHAM! One of these flying critters is squeezing past your ivories and heading for the soft tissues. Second of all it immediately latches on. It digs it’s toenails in deep and does not want to leave. My bug was certainly latched on to me. Thirdly comes death in some form. Either the bug dies or I do. Either the temptation is killed or it delivers it’s sin-sting and results in my death.
I think I need a netting covering my face while sailing along on my bike here, just like I need the full armor of God to protect me spiritually as I sail through life.
When this type of bug encounter happens, you don’t know if you need to hurl, or sneeze, or cough, or blow yourself up, and your body threatens to do all four at the same time. The real problem is that I am on a bicycle, clamped to the pedals, moving at 17 miles an hour, so doing any of the above is super challenging. So I spend the next 15 miles trying to dislodge this insect from behind my epiglottis, but seems to have locked it’s toenails in really deep and thus I have this nearly impossible-to-resist urge to claw my throat out and eject this bug . . . I almost crashed the bike about 14 times as I attempted to remove this intruder who was so unwilling to go.
I finally got him/her out . . . or in . . . I am not really sure. Either I finally spit him out or swallowed him completely, but eventually I no longer felt him crawling around in there. But he certainly got me to thinking and he certainly got my attention.
I have already described the attention side . . . so what about the thinking side? Well, this bug problem reminds me of the passage in James 1, where when the lusts of our hearts creates a temptation, and when lust has conceived it gives birth to sin, and when sin is accomplished it brings forth death. The tenacity of the lust - sin - death cycle is just like a bug flying down your throat as you are sailing along on your bike. First of all it is sudden. You are happily sailing along when WHAM! One of these flying critters is squeezing past your ivories and heading for the soft tissues. Second of all it immediately latches on. It digs it’s toenails in deep and does not want to leave. My bug was certainly latched on to me. Thirdly comes death in some form. Either the bug dies or I do. Either the temptation is killed or it delivers it’s sin-sting and results in my death.
I think I need a netting covering my face while sailing along on my bike here, just like I need the full armor of God to protect me spiritually as I sail through life.
1 comment:
You do need a net to cover your face while riding a bike...
...or you could just breathe through your nose with your mouth closed. :-) Heck, you could even just keep your teeth closed and breathe through your mouth still.
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