Holding On

     I've been pondering why I walk so much better when holding my husband's hand. It was necessary to hold his arm after my knee replacements because my knees know a trick most others don't--When in doubt, give out.  My surgeon said it was an uncommon brain stem reaction. Interesting, but not very helpful since, like most people, I have little control over my own brain stem. My knees also had ADD. Any distraction from the task of walking would cause them to give out. To this day, my left knee does not remember how to pivot. So for a long time I had to hold Reed's arm to make up in husband what I lacked in stability. (I'm sure Reed would like to expand upon this point.) But now, years later, I still find I walk better when I hold his hand. Perhaps the minor focus of that touch keeps my knees from being distracted by other things. When I am shopping in crowded stores, I've noticed barely touching the racks helps me walk better. I'm considering an experiment of walking with my thumb pressing on one of my fingers like my chiropractor did for muscle testing. That way I could, in effect, hold my own hand.
    Similarly, some of the medications they now use for MS serve in that decoy capacity. In order to keep the patient's body from attacking its own myelin sheathing over the nerves, these drugs essentially say, "Look over here! Focus on me! These are not the droids you're looking for." Maybe that is what the unconscious pressure of holding hubby's hand does for my knees, perhaps they return to muscle memory mode. Or perhaps it's just the knowledge that if I start to stumble, I can count on him to hold me up. Either way it is a wonderful allegory for the Christian walk. We all stumble but we won't, ultimately, fall.  Even in those times when we don't want to hold our Savior's hand, He is holding ours.