SWB: Where's the lip balm?

"But, my lips hurt real bad!" - Napoleon Dynamite



You may have seen this quirky film a few years ago, or maybe not, but I think everyone can relate to the scene where Napoleon is stuck in school with no chap-stick and is calling home to see if his brother can drop it off for him. Chapped lips are horrible nuisance. No, they are not life-threatening - but annoying, distracting and painful.

Have you ever misplaced your lip balm when you need it the most? It's an impossible thing for me, especially this time of year, to be without a tube of lip balm in my pocket. I have a couple favorite brands of lip balm: Burt's Bee's Peppermint and Thistle Farm's Tuscan Earth. The first is soothing because of the Peppermint and the second has a sort of sweet herbal fragrance and heals chapped lips amazingly fast. Once I applied the Thistle Farms Balm while in a waiting room, and a six-year-old boy walked in, sat down next to me and happily exclaimed, "What is that yummy smell?"



There were a few days this last week, that I forgot to apply my lip balm before heading outside into the February cold, and after those few days I was becoming painfully aware of my swollen and rough bottom lip. I'd lost one of my Burt's Bees lip balms to my dog, who has a strange attraction to peppermint and had literally eaten it. It appears my dog has a favorite lip balm too!

When I relocated another tube of that soothing salve, I was relived because my lips were immediately cooled. I had to be diligent in re-applying the balm, as my whole body seemed to be thirsty for the moisture. Eventually, the burn stopped the mint calmed and the thistle healed what was so painfully sore.

There is a song I learned years ago in high school chorus that has stayed in my mind and I often find myself singing when things in life are leaving me feeling sort of "chapped". There are many times in life that "I feel discouraged, and think my work’s in vain," but I need to be reminded that, " then the Holy Spirit, revives my hope again."

So as we share this weeks bread, think of it from the perspective of lip balm. What are the things that caused you to feel "chapped" this week? What are the lip balm - Gilad - moments that cooled, refreshed and healed?"

I'm thankful to G-d for the balm that is poured into our lives. I'm thankful to you for sharing your life and bread here at this blog. May you never have chapped lips, "That hurt real bad", but if you do - I pray that your lip balm is just a pocket or a prayer away.



Here are the complete lyrics to the two versions of There is a balm in Gilead s found on wikipedia:

There is a balm in Gilead
To make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead
To heal the sin-sick soul.

Some times I feel discouraged,
And think my work’s in vain,
But then the Holy Spirit
Revives my soul again.

(Chorus)

If you can’t preach like Peter,
If you can’t pray like Paul,
Just tell the love of Jesus,
And say He died for all.

[edit] Alternate Lyrics


There is a balm in Gilead, To make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead, To heal the sin-sick soul.

Some times I feel discouraged,
And think my work’s in vain,
But then the Holy Spirit
Revives my hope again.

(Chorus)

If you cannot sing like angels,
If you can’t preach like Paul,
You can tell the love of Jesus,
And say He died for all.