a rhino in my nose

i caught a bad case of the colds this weekend (hence, i was not able to serve at the GSS nor the tv mass. tsk tsk. great timing). i was stuck at home.. in bed for hours on end.. and practically immobile. boredom quickly set in.. and soon, i found myself in front of my pc. and, for lack of anything better to do, i decided to research a bit on the cause of my suffering - the rhinovirus.

this from www.discovery.com:

it feels like it sounds: a rhinovirus is a good indication of how it would be to have a rhinoceros stuck up your nose.

an aficionado of rhinoviruses, which cause at least one-third of colds in adults, hendley says the common cold is uncommonly hard to understand. one surprising revelation, though, is that your painful parade of symptoms isn't exactly the fault of the virus.

"what we do know is that the symptoms aren't because the virus eats the inside of your nose out," hendley says. "it's the body's own inflammatory response that causes the symptoms."

o-kay?! so technically, it’s not the teeny tiny rhinovirus that’s causing my nose to run, my eyes to water and my throat to feel scratchy?! apparently, my body’s immune system is overreacting to the presence of the intruder virus.. hence, wreaking havoc and mayhem.. and effectively immobilizing me for a couple of days. how weird is that?!?

it’s funny.. but sometimes, the things we rely on to protect us and to keep us secure - education, wealth, popularity, fame - can turn out to be the source of our troubles at some point. when we rely too much on our “security blankets” to keep us safe, then there are moments when the Lord would rock the boat and make us lose our balance a bit. just so we’d know better than to trust in “things that pass away”

ps 146:5-6 says, “blessed is he whose help is the God of jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, the Maker of heaven and earth,the sea, and everything in them--the LORD, who remains faithful forever.”

He’s all we need to keep us safe from every storm. and from every cold virus, haha ü God bless, everyone! ü