Scruples
16/11/13 05:23
These days it isn’t at all uncommon for me to wake up with a little ache or pain. Perhaps I slept in a position that results in a temporary stiffness, perhaps I did something the previous day that stretched a little-used muscle. I’m not certain that this is the case, but it sure seems like I have these little aches and pains more frequently than I did a couple of decades ago. I think that they may just be part of aging.
To be sure, these are not major pains. In fact, my life has been remarkably free from pain. I have never needed a major surgery, I have never broken a bone. What little arthritis I have is expressed primarily in knobby buckles and minor pain in my hands. I did suffer some rather serious burns a few years ago and I have had the occasional toothache that kept me from thinking about anything but the pain in my jaw. On one occasion, I ended up having an emergency dental procedure in the late evening because I couldn’t bear the thought of trying to get through the night with the pain.
Still, if you were to look in our bathroom medicine cabinet, you would find aspirin, acetaminophen, and ibuprofen. We keep a modest supply of three different over the counter pain medications in our home at most times. There are small bottles of the same three medications in the first aid kit that I keep in my car as well. Just reporting this makes me think that I ought to check expiration dates on the labels of the medications. I almost never take any of the medicines. I simply don’t need them. But I keep them on hand “just in case.”
The fear of pain without resources to treat it keeps the sales of over-the-counter pain medications high and I participate in that economy.
Still, I believe that not all pain is bad. Pain is the body’s way of communicating that there is some trouble that needs to be addressed. In my case, at my age, the problem that needs to be addressed is often simply a lack of exercise. I know from my own experience that when I wake stiff and sore a gentle paddle on the lake or a set of stretching exercises in my home can ease the discomfort and help me get ready to face the rest of the day. I seem to need occasional reminders that my life has become a bit too sedentary and I need to be more intentional about exercise.
The Romans had a name for a small pain that has given a word to our language that we often use without much thought of its origins or true meaning. In Latin a scrupulous is a small and sharp stone that gets lodged in one’s sandal that transforms walking - an act that we usually take for granted and don’t reflect upon - into a constant annoyance. Each step provides a constant reminder that one has just take a step. Before Christianity was the religion of Rome, the term had been expanded to include any small thing that made one aware of a part of life that one normally took for granted.
A scruple is a unit of weight equal to one twenty-fourth of an ounce. That is 20 grains or about 1.3 grams. In general, the term has come to mean a very small amount.
Gradually over years of use the term scruples came to mean small doubts. A scruple is a tiny doubt that makes us question whether an act is right or wrong. We might simply act without thinking about what we do except for that tiny hint of doubt. In contemporary use the term can be used to describe a positive attitude - the ability to question actions and to think about what is right and what is wrong before acting.
Religious leaders also speak of scrupulosity as a trait that can prevent people from living fully and abundantly. People can develop obsessive concerns about their sinfulness and feel that the tiniest misstep is somehow a mortal sin. It isn’t all that uncommon to encounter someone who is kept from living fully and abundantly because of their inability to lett past mistakes go and move on. Sometimes these obsessions manifest themselves in psychological disorders that require intensive treatment. More often, they become small barriers that people need to learn to overcome in order ot get on with their lives.
I have learned that those little doubts are often my friends. When I take time to listen to those thoughts in the back of my mind, I am able to make better decisions. When I don’t take time to think about the consequences of my actions, I often make decisions that I later regret.
I find this to be true when it comes to financial decisions. When we were young and both going to school, we didn’t have much money and we had to weigh every expense. We kept track of all of our money very carefully and gave thought to how a purchase or donation would affect other needs and wants. These days we earn a bit more money and have a bit more discretion. I come home in the evenings, take the change out of my pockets and put it in a container in my bedroom. I rarely think about that money. Sometimes I’ll raid my coins for money for parking meters or the carwash (though these days it takes a whole lot of quarters to wash the car and the machine now accepts $1 and $5 bills and credit cards). A couple of times a year we practice the discipline of small gifts with coin boxes for Habitat for Humanity or One Great Hour of Sharing. Whenever we do this I am amazed at the amount of money that I leave lying around my house. When I count the coins, it seems to me crazy how much I have ignored. I don’t believe in wasting money, but I have been known to do it.
So I’m grateful for scruples. I am grateful for the small pains that make me think of things I might otherwise ignore. Life is a gift every day. Sometimes I need a small pain to remind me that I am alive. The abundance and generosity of the congregation is a constant reality. Sometimes I need to pinch a few pennies to be reminded of how great this gift really is.
The important thing is that I don’t need to fear pain. Sometimes a little pain can be a very good thing indeed.
To be sure, these are not major pains. In fact, my life has been remarkably free from pain. I have never needed a major surgery, I have never broken a bone. What little arthritis I have is expressed primarily in knobby buckles and minor pain in my hands. I did suffer some rather serious burns a few years ago and I have had the occasional toothache that kept me from thinking about anything but the pain in my jaw. On one occasion, I ended up having an emergency dental procedure in the late evening because I couldn’t bear the thought of trying to get through the night with the pain.
Still, if you were to look in our bathroom medicine cabinet, you would find aspirin, acetaminophen, and ibuprofen. We keep a modest supply of three different over the counter pain medications in our home at most times. There are small bottles of the same three medications in the first aid kit that I keep in my car as well. Just reporting this makes me think that I ought to check expiration dates on the labels of the medications. I almost never take any of the medicines. I simply don’t need them. But I keep them on hand “just in case.”
The fear of pain without resources to treat it keeps the sales of over-the-counter pain medications high and I participate in that economy.
Still, I believe that not all pain is bad. Pain is the body’s way of communicating that there is some trouble that needs to be addressed. In my case, at my age, the problem that needs to be addressed is often simply a lack of exercise. I know from my own experience that when I wake stiff and sore a gentle paddle on the lake or a set of stretching exercises in my home can ease the discomfort and help me get ready to face the rest of the day. I seem to need occasional reminders that my life has become a bit too sedentary and I need to be more intentional about exercise.
The Romans had a name for a small pain that has given a word to our language that we often use without much thought of its origins or true meaning. In Latin a scrupulous is a small and sharp stone that gets lodged in one’s sandal that transforms walking - an act that we usually take for granted and don’t reflect upon - into a constant annoyance. Each step provides a constant reminder that one has just take a step. Before Christianity was the religion of Rome, the term had been expanded to include any small thing that made one aware of a part of life that one normally took for granted.
A scruple is a unit of weight equal to one twenty-fourth of an ounce. That is 20 grains or about 1.3 grams. In general, the term has come to mean a very small amount.
Gradually over years of use the term scruples came to mean small doubts. A scruple is a tiny doubt that makes us question whether an act is right or wrong. We might simply act without thinking about what we do except for that tiny hint of doubt. In contemporary use the term can be used to describe a positive attitude - the ability to question actions and to think about what is right and what is wrong before acting.
Religious leaders also speak of scrupulosity as a trait that can prevent people from living fully and abundantly. People can develop obsessive concerns about their sinfulness and feel that the tiniest misstep is somehow a mortal sin. It isn’t all that uncommon to encounter someone who is kept from living fully and abundantly because of their inability to lett past mistakes go and move on. Sometimes these obsessions manifest themselves in psychological disorders that require intensive treatment. More often, they become small barriers that people need to learn to overcome in order ot get on with their lives.
I have learned that those little doubts are often my friends. When I take time to listen to those thoughts in the back of my mind, I am able to make better decisions. When I don’t take time to think about the consequences of my actions, I often make decisions that I later regret.
I find this to be true when it comes to financial decisions. When we were young and both going to school, we didn’t have much money and we had to weigh every expense. We kept track of all of our money very carefully and gave thought to how a purchase or donation would affect other needs and wants. These days we earn a bit more money and have a bit more discretion. I come home in the evenings, take the change out of my pockets and put it in a container in my bedroom. I rarely think about that money. Sometimes I’ll raid my coins for money for parking meters or the carwash (though these days it takes a whole lot of quarters to wash the car and the machine now accepts $1 and $5 bills and credit cards). A couple of times a year we practice the discipline of small gifts with coin boxes for Habitat for Humanity or One Great Hour of Sharing. Whenever we do this I am amazed at the amount of money that I leave lying around my house. When I count the coins, it seems to me crazy how much I have ignored. I don’t believe in wasting money, but I have been known to do it.
So I’m grateful for scruples. I am grateful for the small pains that make me think of things I might otherwise ignore. Life is a gift every day. Sometimes I need a small pain to remind me that I am alive. The abundance and generosity of the congregation is a constant reality. Sometimes I need to pinch a few pennies to be reminded of how great this gift really is.
The important thing is that I don’t need to fear pain. Sometimes a little pain can be a very good thing indeed.