Referred Pain

I was in pain; I coped with it for a couple of days using pain killers and heat packs. Suddenly, I had relief. It was then that I realized that the pain that I felt was what we call referred pain.

It turned out to be a pinched nerve, but while I felt the pain in the head the nerve was caught down in my shoulder. Relief came when I moved, releasing the nerve.

Even for a couple of days afterwards I would feel twinges but what I noticed was that my hand always went to where the pain was felt, not to where the problem was.

On a spiritual level we tend to do the same thing. We try to solve the wrong where we see the problem, not at its source. For instance, we enforce new laws rather than trying to work out what drives people to do the wrong thing in the first place.

Yes, I know that the sinful nature will always be the root of the problem, but, there are other reasons why people turn to unruly behavior. Are they bored? desperate or ill? These are the things that must be treated first in order to create a better society.

“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not”. Galatians 6:9.