SAUCIER: My bones are shuddering

In Greek mythology, there’s the Riddle of the Sphinx: “What creature walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?”

The answer is “man,” who crawls on all fours as a baby, walks on two legs as an adult, and walks with a cane in old age.

Recent personal experience suggests that it may be four in the morning, two at noon, and four again in the evening.

I come to this conclusion in a bout with a pinched nerve. Walking is painful, but stairs are the real challenge. I find that the only tolerable way to take them safely is as a 70-something toddler, using both hands and feet.

It’s been rough. The intensity of pain varies, but always there. There is no comfortable position, sitting or standing. And to my great dismay, the nights are absolutely the worst, with no position that allows for any significant, sustained sleep.

The assault on the body discomforts the mind, as well. It is impossible to read much, as the torment denies focus and comprehension.

Sitting in silence, the troubled mind wanders and makes weird associations.

I thought of some construction work I’m involved in and the tools we use. Milwaukee Tool used to have the slogan “a tool for every job.”

Now accustomed to random connections, it was no surprise when my mind jumped to the church, which seems to have “a saint for every challenge.”

I chased that rabbit to St. Gemma Galgani, a young Italian mystic, who died at the age of 25 in 1903.

St. Gemma is the patron saint of back pain.

She had a hard life. She lost her mother to tuberculosis when she was 7 and then her brother to the same disease, which she soon contracted herself.

She endured excruciating kidney pain and progressive paralysis of her legs as the result of a spinal disease.

After a succession of mystical experiences, she was miraculously cured of this, but the tuberculosis remained, worsened, and finally killed her a few years later.

In all this, I realized a couple of things. First, my present condition, compared to the life of St. Gemma and the maladies of millions, is a temporary inconvenience.

Secondly, in the reports of St. Gemma’s life, there is no evidence that she ever prayed for healing, only for the grace to faithfully endure.

Both of those are timely reminders, and maybe some rabbit holes are just shortcuts to deeper truths.