This week I committed the cardinal sin of kitchens. I placed a sharp cutting knife in the soapy dishwater and forgot about it. Only when I was washing the dishes did I come upon it- by slicing the tip of my left-hand, middle finger.

Yikes. Talk about blood. God love my "faint upon seeing blood" husband. (He now has a sticker in his medical chart. He must lie down with his feet preventively above his head when he gets labs drawn. Too many times when he passed out giving a small vial to check his hemoglobin,etc.)

Once I got the bleeding somewhat under control, he helped me put a butterfly bandage on it. He always amazes me. He knows just what to do and does it. Part of it comes from his first aid training in Boy Scouts. In fact, he was the one who taught the class at Boy Scout camp. I always wondered how did that work? Didn't he faint as he taught the class? "Purely theoretical", he replies. (It is after the crisis is over, will he have to lie down and let the color return to his face.)

I now have 2 butterfly bandages on my finger, plus a flexible fabric bandage to contain the antibiotic ointment and another knuckle bandage over top of it all. It really extends my middle finger so that when I move my hand, I look like I am perpetually ticked off at everyone. (which some days describes my mood)

The thing is, having limited use of my left hand is a big annoyance. It is just a small appendage, but I have to rethink what I am doing. I don't want to get that hand wet because the soggy bandages have to be continually changed. I don't want to use it when I garden because I don't want dirt in my cut. So many things I do, require that I use both hands and for the time being I can't.

"Two hands are better than one". That is certainly an apropos adage. Two hands can provide strength, support, and symmetry. For us as individuals we need to have the balance of both sides.

It makes me thing that in the global sense, we need two hands; we need the balance of both sides. We need the strength, support and symmetry that comes when there is more than just one idea, one way of doing something, or one solution.

With my one handedness, I have to ask my husband to help. I find that it is quite a bother because I am, as I have mentioned before, an independent cuss. It is humbling to have someone else button a button or fix a clasp.

But isn't that what we are asked to do? Help others? Give support? Provide strength? Be humble?

Just like we need two hands, we need one another.

What about you? Ever have trouble with your appendages? Temporarily or permanently? What did you learn with that experience?