Trip to the Dentist

I've been complaining about this tooth for two years. It's been drilled and filled. It's been hot and cold, shooting pain down to the roots. A couple weeks ago it cracked and so what did I do? Ignored it for a week, the swelling and bruising giving me headaches. And then, I finally made an appointment at the dentists, and started dreading December 13th.

Keitha and I went shopping tonight for the Community Outreach Christmas Dinner. We have gravy ingredients and Caesar salad fixings. We bought sweet potatoes and turnips. We ordered buns in all shapes and colours to be picked up Tuesday morning, fresh, ready to be buttered.

I was telling Keitha about my tooth woes, and she told me some of hers. We agreed that nobody likes to go to the dentist, but it has to be done, every now and then.

As I'm laying here, my jaw aching from the tooth that was pulled earlier today, I'm thinking about the human habit of ignoring things we know need attention. I'm thinking about the way we have neglected our beautiful peace and friendship treaties, how we've let them erode and deteriorate.

Tonight, Michael, the cousins, and I spent some time in prayer. We will continue to pray for wisdom and health for Chief Spence on her hunger strike, the leaders of Idle No More, healing in our own community, and that our own actions might be part of the rebuilding.