John Russell Dunn

Entertaining and encouraging through the written and spoken word.

John Russell Dunn

The Iceberg

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Jesus arrival in Bethlehem was only the visible portion of God’s salvation plan. Like an iceberg, we caught only a glimpse. We didn’t understand what God had in mind.

When more of his plan was revealed – the rejection, betrayal, execution, and death of his son – we questioned how the pieces fit together. But it was all part of his plan.

When we see the remainder of the iceberg, we will be astonished again.

Because the final act will be as unlike the middle act as the middle was unlike the first.

Oral Surgery

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Over a year after getting braces, I was scheduled to have surgery to extend my lower jaw and widen my upper palette.

[Squeamish Beware:] To widen my upper palette, the bone suture along the upper palette needed to be parted. An expander, a device like a retainer with a crank to push the sides apart, was installed to control the gradual widening.  By keeping the edges of the sutures just out of reach and re-widening twice a day, the bones’ efforts to re-suture themselves caused the gap to fill with new blood vessels and, eventually, new bone. Extending the lower jaw was another issue.

Complacency

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Filter my impressions, O God. Condition my thinking. Both temper and empower my words. I don’t need an infusion, I need a replacement. I don’t need a touch, I need a detonation. I don’t need an encounter, I need an insurrection.

In the Chair

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I think highly of my dental team, but it’s hard to account for the emotional energy that dental work depletes. Even when there’s no pain, even when there’s no physical discomfort, the process is so intimate, so invasive, it’s sometimes hard not to want a nap (or a good cry) afterwards. This is probably especially true for introverts. Transitioning from drill-n-fill to regular activities takes more than just waiting for any anesthetic to wear off.

In other words, it’s possible to be a drooling fool in more than just the physical sense.

I Let a Seed Die Today

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A seed died today because I didn’t catch it.

Concepts dancing in scintillating constellations;

Juxtaposed, intercalated, and alloyed in new ways.

I, in my hurry, saw the beauty and perfection

Of their new arrangement;

And marveled at the system of their members,

And yet failed to write anything down.