There's an old saying that 'real men don't eat quiche,' but I reckon 'real men don't have long nails' wouldn't be far behind. At the minute my right thumb nail has grown to a length of almost a whole centimetre beyond the fleshy part while most of the others are at least five or six millimetres long. My right hand looks disdainfully towards my left from time to time, where the combined length of all five nails above the flesh, is no more than a couple of millimetres. Yet it wasn't always so. One of the first things I notice when I see a person's hands are the length of the nails and I'm probably a pretty good judge of those in our midst who are nail biters, having been apart of that group for many of my early years. Indeed, I was so afflicted by the biting craze that mum went to all sorts of lengths to stop it, using a variety of sour tasting potions, recommended by the chemist and also using the minister, who threatened to take points off my team at Campaigners if he could see any evidence of a chewed end. Needless to say, it worked for a while and the old nails did start to grow but a long nail often just became too appetising and before long I could be found gnawing away, sometimes until I went too far and small traces of blood could be seen appearing at the surface. And was it painful? The only remedy, apart from the obvious on of not biting, was to plunge the damaged finger or thumb into a bowl of cold water and keep it there for a while. Ah, what relief that brought, though it was only temporary and many nights I suffered the constant pulse like throbbing of a digit as I tried to find some comfort in sleep.
But the guitar changed all that. Once I found that it was possible to pluck the strings with individual fingers and then discovered that it worked much better if I actually had nails on the end, I never looked back and almost overnight, stopped the nail fest in favour of a bit of finger picking. But there is no doubt that to the casual observer, it does seem a little strange to have long nails on one hand and short nails on the other.
So after a childhood spent abusing my nails, I now go to great lengths to protect them, yet long nails and rugby do not really go together and many times at least one finger came a cropper either in a tackle or simply catching the ball. Nor is it advisable to work at lawnmowers or other engines or to try to lift concrete blocks, as metal and stone tend to be a bit harder and stronger than the Calcium rich deposits on the ends of my fingers. In fact, a broken or damaged nail can be a mini crisis and always requires immediate attention to prevent further damage. I've even been known to use a dab of superglue on the cracked part and then a quick smoothing with a nail file keeps it in check until the nail has grown sufficiently to properly correct the problem.
When I was very young, my dad used to visit an old lady for whom he bought cattle and where he also rented some land. He reliably informed me that she never washed and her hands were never clean. But she had an incredibly long thumb nail and he often told the story of watching her take freshly baked soda bread out of her oven and then cut it using her thumb nail. It was a rare combination but I can't remember if he was ever offered any of the sliced carbohydrate though out of good manners I reckon he would not have refused.
Two things. My nails are very strong and those of my wife are much more flexible and weak. I think it comes down to that fact that I drink a lot of milk and she doesn't so maybe she needs more Calcium! As a Christian I can't expect to be strong if I don't constantly feed on those things that make me strong. Proverbs 15 says 'The discerning heart seeks knowledge.' And Jesus said, 'Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.' And the Psalmist wrote 'God is our refuge and strength' while in Samuel we read 'God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect.'
But also people wouldn't keep biting their nails if they didn't keep growing. And Satan keeps attacking those whom he sees growing in their spiritual walk.If you don't feel the darts, maybe you've just stopped growing. But the more you grow, the stronger you become if you depend on God for everything. Like I say, it's easy to spot when there's no growth!
