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I wanted to share a recent experience, and something I learned from it. I was starting to get a toothache, which was annoying at first (not too much pain, more sensitive than real pain). So I was going through things to try to manage it…what if I floss 2x a day and use Listerine to keep my teeth clean and see if the pain goes away, eat on the other side of my mouth and avoid things like ice cream. I didn’t freak out with some small pain, I just managed it and tried to deal with it.
A few days later, the pain really became worse, and it was constant and uncomfortable all the time, it also seemed like it was more than one tooth, my whole upper teeth on the right side of my jaw was throbbing…it was hard to concentrate on other things.
So I booked an emergency meeting with the dentist, and thought perhaps a painful root canal was in my near future. I hate going to the dentist, but certainly could not put this off…I was in too much constant pain.
My dentist is a great guy, a member of our stake and really good at what he does. He gave me a blessing and all was better
😯 …then I woke up from that dream with my tooth hurting worse than ever
In the real world, the pain is real, and the bacteria is real, and the way to get rid of the pain requires practical methods, not voodoo.
The dentist took X-rays, and poked around to find out what hurt. He was surprised my gums hurt as much as my teeth, and all the teeth hurt not just one.
After looking at the x-rays, he asked if I had a cold recently. I told him I was just getting over one, after snowboarding with my kids. It laid me out and was a nasty cold, but I’m feeling better now, even though I’m a little stuffy still.
He said we have a couple options. He said we can certainly do a root canal, which removes the nerve from my tooth = no more pain.
Then he said, but that’s not really the problem. My problem is that I have a sinus infection, putting pressure on my nerve, which is the same nerve that goes down to my tooth, causing me to feel the pain in my tooth.
But he said the teeth are healthy, and they are not causing the problems, that is just where I feel the problems.Well, in short, with the right diagnosis, proper medications were given, the sinus infection was treated, my toothaches went away, and I didn’t have to have a root canal after all.
I found this applicable to my life, and sometimes about my experiences at church. There are times I go to church on Sunday, and feel Church-aches…just pain with being in church and dealing with people or ideas at church. I wonder at times if rooting myself from church attendence will be the solution to removing the pain I feel.
However, when I really look deeply and x-ray my life…the problems are not rooted in the church itself. The church isn’t “causing” me pains. There are other sources of life that are affecting me, and I just seem to see pain get manifested at church…even if those aren’t the causes of the pain. Even if I have church-related pain, like my thoughts towards prayer, or the WoW, or prophets and revelations…other times in my life when I don’t have emotional or other problems going on, those things are still there but I’m ok with them. It is mostly when something else in my life is not healthy, that these manifest themselves as pain in my church going experience.
I am finding as I am dealing with my real issues, the church is still there for me, and actually there are some really good friends and members that are kind and caring and nice to me, welcoming me with open arms when I want to be there. There are things that happen at church that are trying, and doctrines I don’t understand…but they seem to not be painful things when I am spiritually and emotionally healthy.
I don’t know, perhaps this doesn’t apply to others, but for me, seeing how my toothaches weren’t related to my teeth made me think more about some of my church-aches.
I won’t say there aren’t real pains at times that are church-related or caused by the church. I am just noticing that sometimes, I need to diagnose my problems correctly if I’m ever going to get over those things and not blame the church for everything or just rush to leaving the church as the only solution to my pain.
Thanks Heber13. That was a really nice message to share. I think that is a cool analogy. Church-ache. Toothache. I wish we had densists that could diagnose when it’s a Church-Ache and when it’s a Personalitis Infection, and just fix the personalitis infection. I respect that believe and analogy. btw – a couple of shots of Makers Mark would have taken that pain away, and saved you the expense of a dentist visit.
🙂 Keep it in mind next time you get a sinus infection that causes a toothache.Heber, I could really relate to your analogy because I paid a fortune for two root canals and two crowns recently. My teeth still hurt until the dentist drilled off the rough edges and the bite was better. I am one to get at the sourse of a problem rather than treat it symptomatically. I could easily blame the church for all the callings he overloaded my husband with when he was active but I realized it was my husband who was using these callings to avoid emotionally problems with our kids and me. I do think the church keeps us too busy sometimes that families are neglected, but it is our responsiblity to say No when its too much. My husband would agree with you Heber. I’m not sure that I can, though I’m trying to work that out. CG
Based on some of the comments I’ve seen on this forum, I think there’s an undercurrent of thought that part of the reason we’re here is because of our personalities. Kind of a disconcerting thought — that all the angst about the Church is really just a clash with our personalities and the imperatives the Church puts forward. And that our native dispositions disqualify us, or at least, challenge us severely to be active. However, in my experience. Sometimes you go to the denstist with a toothache — and that’s what it is — a toothache.
Thinking along those same lines SD!!! Though I can see your point Heber. CG
Heber13 – just love this post. Any chance you’d let us use it as a guest post on Wheat & Tares? cwald wrote:I respect that believe and analogy.
btw – a couple of shots of Makers Mark would have taken that pain away, and saved you the expense of a dentist visit.
🙂 Keep it in mind next time you get a sinus infection that causes a toothache.
I think Brigham Young used chewing tobacco to sooth the toothaches, didn’t he?
🙂 bridget_night wrote:Heber, I could really relate to your analogy because I paid a fortune for two root canals and two crowns recently.
OUCH!!
😯 Now that is REAL pain!bridget_night wrote:I do think the church keeps us too busy sometimes that families are neglected, but it is our responsiblity to say No when its too much.
Agreed. Like SD is saying, sometimes the church is causing some situations for us to deal with (our time, our willingness to sacrifice, etc) so the pains can be real, but if we know our boundaries and learn to say NO when we have good reason, we can avoid the pain, and things just go forward. Good thoughts, bridget. Thanks.
canadiangirl wrote:My husband would agree with you Heber. I’m not sure that I can, though I’m trying to work that out.
That’s cool, candiangirl…I am not sure my analogy fits all situations, as SilentDawning pointed out, some toothaches are just toothaches, and do need to be fixed.To take the analogy further, some toothaches can be fixed, with a little short term pain, but properly handled, a little drilling or whatever can then get things back to comfort zones, and a person could fix the problems and then move on normally.
In buffet style, we can sometimes find things about the church that hurt us, and find a way to deal with it or choose not to believe it, and then still find a way to stay in the church if it benefits us to do so.
I’m also open to the option that sometimes you yank the tooth out if it is too far gone…and if your belief in the church is too far gone, then not going to church anymore or deciding to leave the religion all together is very much an option.
The point is, before you run straight for the pliers, check to make sure the diagnosis is right. Its a shame to pull a tooth only later to find out the sinus infection remains as the problem to be dealt with.
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