Matthew 8 v 1 – 17/ Mark 5 v 1 – 20/ Luke 8 v 40 – 56

I have referred previously to the shortages of goods in our shops during the Coronavirus crisis, and you may recall my concerns over shortages of wallpaper adhesive.  Well, I have now discovered that there is a shortage of even greater magnitude than that of wallpaper adhesive and possibly all the other items.

I received a telephone call from a friend to say that she had just purchased the very last ‘Home Dental Repair Kit’ from her local chemist. It would appear that during the present crisis we are all embarking on a do it yourself culture that has no bounds. We have already considered the home decorating and I have seen the results of home hairdressing and hair cutting, (the good the bad and the ugly), but home dentistry had never come up on my radar until now.

I started to think what other home surgery kits could be available, – home broken leg repair kits, – home knee replacement kits, (I’ll have two of those please), However, as there is no evidence of any of these items been on the shelves I can only assume they have been stockpiled by panic buyers.

I asked my friend what the contents of the Home Dental Repair Kit contained. She described a large syringe containing an unknown substance which we assume to be a filler, a scraping tool, assumed to be for cleaning the effected tooth, and some antiseptic which we assumed to be for cleaning the tooth before and after the surgery. I was surprised that the kit did not contain a mirror as it would be unlikely that the procedure could be carried out without one.

Now that would worry me, the mirror that is. I have experience of attempting to trim a beard round the ears using a pair of scissors and a mirror and I can confirm that it is not an easy operation. The simple action of positioning the scissors up, down, left and right can be confusing to say the least, which combined with the contortion required to manipulate the hand to coordinate with the scissors, possibly explains why the artist Van Gogh had only one ear. Apply this lack of dexterity to imitating dentistry fills me with fear and trepidation. What happens if the wrong tooth is chosen and the syringe of filler is discharged to no affect?  There are no more repair kits available due to shortages caused by panic buying. What is more is that my friend told me that the tooth requiring attention is at the back of the mouth, in which case should a bright torch have also been included in the kit?

I started thinking about how many, and what type of ailments Jesus healed during his ministry. I tried to list them; – withered hands, paralysed legs, blindness, deafness, bleeding, Leprosy, mental illness (demons), unknown illness of the official’s daughter, illness with Jairus’s daughter, resurrection of the widows son, resurrection of Lazarus. But wait, we are told that the people brought all their sick out to Jesus and he healed them all so the list is endless.

He healed by touch, by prayer, by affirming their faith and in some instances he healed without any personal contact, and always when all human efforts had failed. But his greatest act of healing was through his death on the cross and his resurrection on Easter morning. His sacrifice healed us of all our sin and through him we are now truly healed. This healing does not come from any home repair kit or not even from a doctor’s surgery, it comes from the love of a God who so loved the world that he gave his only son so that we can live.

I haven’t had the opportunity to telephone my friend since her call so I’m unaware of the outcome and if her home surgery has been successful or not . In retrospect, I should have called her and told her to look under the box to see if it said ‘Warning; – do not try this at home’.

While writing this’ Pause for Thought’ I have heard that Boris Johnson has been released from hospital and is recovering at home. I give thanks that God’s healing touch has reached out to our Prime Minister and pray that many more people suffering from this virus will also healed.    

After further research I pleased to confirm that other home surgery kits are available including emergency replacement of crowns on teeth. Best of luck with that one.

Derek T.