Eau de hot sock

“Smells like ‘team’ spirit.” with sincere apology to Nirvana

“Are you actually wearing that thing outside the house?” my husband asked with amusement. After many years of marriage, not much I do surprises him, but the fact I was walking out the door with a tube sock full of brown rice draped around my neck and shoulders apparently did.

I just smiled back and went on my way. Little does he know I’ve been driving all over town with this unusual accessory for the last three weeks, ever since a fender bender left me with a sprained neck. Muscle spasms are no joke.

So, where I go, my sock of blissful, microwavable comfort follows. It’s kind of like I’ve always imagined the goodness-and-mercy thing David described so eloquently in Psalm 23 works. We go through our days — facing the joys, the trials, the occasional car wreck. God’s blessings follow hot on our heels — or neck as the case may be. They’re not a Kevlar shield from trouble. But, they are an ethereal support network, a supernatural team of heavenly goodness.

That’s right. It’s not the rice-pudding smell of eau de hot sock lingering on many of my clothes. It’s team spirit.