“Now, that’s a Thought – An Earthquake at the Dentist?”

Friday, January 20, 2006

[6:20am] Collette had her teeth cleaned the same day a rocket was launched from Florida to Pluto (Carrie-Bri’s once-favorite planet). And with the extra gravitational thrust from passing Jupiter, the shuttle would find itself arriving at the little stone planet five years ahead of schedule, July of 2015. Collette would be nearly thirty by then. Of course, traveling at speeds exceeding 36,000 miles per hour (capable of spanning the east to west coast of the United States in five minutes) and a four and a half hour radio delay, who knew what might happen? Another Mars disaster, perhaps… It was also the day in which OLeif and Collette said goodbye to their dearly beloved white-mobile, rusty doors and all. It was a fond goodbye – at least, it would have been, had Collette not forgotten to say goodbye in the first place. And, yes, sadly, Collette’s wisdom teeth were obliged to be pulled. A good piece of news – one of those dastrous “tooths” never developed – only three would be pulled.

Having one’s wisdom teeth pulled seemed to be a dismal sort of experience, more so from having a shot (to be put out), than anything else. Collette did take comfort in the fact that this time they would not merely put her on laughing gas so that she could still hear the grinding. That, was not fun. What a blight… But most people seemed to end up on the surgeon’s table for such an atrocity. And Collette would not think about it – she had better things to do – such as peer into her tonsil with the miniature flashlight from Linnea for Christmas. Yes, another particle had lodged itself there, and she decided to ignore the matter, this being the third time around and no less irritating. Matters of the tonsils teeth – who cared? Not when 15,000 people died in Africa every day from bad blood and bad water. Besides, it could have been worse – an earthquake might have hit while her teeth were being scraped (with a tool that always managed to be sharp enough and pointy enough to remove cement-hard plaque from her not-so-pearly whites). There was also this minor comfort that the dentist had said to her:

“You were first in line when they were handing out the teeth.”

[11:11am] And it happened that at about nine o’clock in the morning, the obstacle was removed with a coffee straw – enough said. And during the lunch hour, Rose called Collette to get more information concerning the mission trip (as Annamaria had expressed interest in attending). The Silverspoons and Englishs had both come over for the day “to play,” and Carrie-Bri was meeting at Elizabeth’s at 2:30 to head out to Kansas City.

[06:06pm] Collette read of the destruction of Rechab and Baanah, his brother, (in II Samuel) and of how they had murdered and beheaded Ish-bosheth. Ish-bosheth’s head was buried in the tomb of Abner, who was struck in the stomach by Joab, commander of King David’s forces and his cousin. Collette thought this sounded like a promising archaeological site. She could see herself out there in the vast dessert sun in khaki shorts, hiking boots, a white tank top and sun-baked arms and neck, a hat and sunglasses against the brilliant glazing white of the sands. A bottle of water in one hand, a silver chain around her neck with a cross, and the tantalizing mystery of sifting through the time-baked grounds of an ancient tomb and its grizzly inhabitants… Sent shivers up her spine at times.

It suddenly occurred to Collette that afternoon while listening to the “Valley of Vision” (Puritan Prayers) that when Christ said, ‘It is finished,” He was not speaking of only His death, but of the completion of the payment for sins – the perfect sacrifice. It was ridiculously obvious – Collette knew that. But it was at that moment she heard it read, that it struck her more potently.

“…From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring
Every creature unique in the song that it sings
All exclaiming

Who has told every lightning bolt where it should go
Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow
Who imagined the sun and gives source to its light
Yet conceals it to bring us the coolness of night
None can fathom…”

– “Indescribable” – Chris Tomlin (sung by the Jr. High youth 01.18.06)