Thoughts on life, love and faith by Plasticmind.

24 September 20061. Michael H:

I hope you got to sleep. You know, when I was a kid and scared, my mom used to comfort me with a verse from Isaiah..."You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you"...or something like that. Hold on...well it is Isaiah 26:3, but you'll have to insert a couple of "thous" and a "wilt" to match the KJV. And it doesn't sound the same in NIV. (Hmmm...I know so many verses from my youth only in KJ language. It is kind of strange to hear them in another translation. The Psalms all sound uncomfortably personal in NIV. It is easier to keep them cold and distant and clinical when you are reading past "thous." Oops. Sidetracked.)
I have noticed that I am a lot more vulnerable to a fear of heights now that I am an adult. When I was 7, I jumped out of a barn window into a pile of manure. My parents were standing at the back porch watching me, and probably reacting as I would today. "Surely he won't do that...he's not that much of an idiot...oh, he did!" I probably couldn't get out of the window now, and even if I could, I wouldn't. But I'd still want to look. So I'm with you on the whole crawling to the edge thing.
Have a beautiful Sunday.

24 September 20063. mandi:

wow! sounds amazing. i'm always surprised by my genuine fear of heights. i remember when i was part of theatre company, during a strike one night one of the guys high up on an a-frame ladder wanted me to climb up and grab something from him...i thought, "sure...why not..." i got about half-way up and couldn't go any further. scared the crap out of me. also, looking straight up while going up or down an escalator gives me severe vertigo. i have to hold on to the rail. scary...

24 September 20065. Jill:

I have experienced this same thing--not being able to sleep because of reliving the fear. Michael's solution is the best, though, I think.

I wonder why so many are afraid of heights? Is it that we can so easily imagine the fall?

25 September 20066. Shawn:

Just continue to trust in God. My friend once told me that fear is a product of having not felt the love of God. :-) Don't worry, he'll definitely keep you safe wherever you are.

25 September 20067. angela:

congrats on defeating the feat - 'tis very impressive.
don't blame you for the height fearing thing: i'm okay with heights so long as i'm strapped into something. =)

25 September 20069. dave:

Yeah, I'm terrified of heights as well.
mainly heights where there is a risk of falling.
So me and you had quite a time at spruce lake on the power swing.
good times brother.

25 September 200610. dave:

and by the way, plasticmind shows up much much better in firefox.

26 September 200611. Slim Jim:

It sounds like you are not saved.

26 September 200612. Beth Martin:

I've never really been afraid of heights. However, I'm the biggest sissy when it comes to water and I'd just about rather eat the sand than go out into the ocean.

28 September 200613. jscottkill:

I just thought that I'd let you know we'll be in Scranton PA all next week. Maybe you could take a trip out to the country to see us!

30 September 200614. angela:

strapped to things, as in a roller coaster
or safe behind a gaurd rail
not slipping out in the open off an extremely high waterfall

=P

24 January 200815. Kristie:

Ok, random - I found this post when I searched for "vertigo - insomnia" on google and it took me to your blog. I was struggle with these symptoms after having seen Cloverfield - fun times. But the weird thing is that someone mentions Scranton, PA in their comment to you - I'm from Scranton! Well, Clarks Summit but it's the same thing. What a small world. And you're a pastor? Did you go to BBC? I grew up at Summit and Heritage near BBC. Man, gotta love cool connections like this!