A topic for this dark night
Death. The one word that sends shivers through our bodies. To some it seems as though only a word for those of advanced years, and to others it is the quintessence of all their fears, yet to still others it is merely the door to a life far greater. As an athletic trainer at the University of Tennessee during my undergraduate experience, I struggled with how to deal with telling athletes they had a season-ending injury. How do you bring comfort to someone in a moment where that which defines them has been taken away? Or even, loosing a hard fought game, what were those magic words that would lift their spirits and keep their heads high? Through my 3 years facing such situations I leaned towards the side of, “Hey there’s nothing we can do about what has happened, but how do we move forward and learn from it” type of comfort. But still I knew there was more. That did not satisfy the root of the problem, their identity as division 1 collegiate athlete was being threatened. The one constant thing throughout their entire life, their sport, was endangered. For those athletes whom I knew where Children of God, I could reassure them that there is a greater purpose for them, that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, that ultimately our identity is in Christ and nothing can take that away. But, what about the majority of my athletes who didn’t know Christ? I knew this was an opportunity to show His love, His hope, and His grace, but how? Never once did I feel as though I took full advantage of those opportunities. Thankfully, I know that God uses even my ‘failed’ attempts to further His work. But as I faced coming to medical school, one of my biggest questions was how to I face my patience when they are dying? Again, what an opportunity to show Christ, yet what a hard place to be in.
Tonight we brought in an oncologist from Pittsburg to talk about just that. He deals in the area of bone marrow transplants, and unfortunately he is part of the dying process for many of his patients. Honestly, I’m still digesting all he had to say, but as he talked all I could think was “I want to be that kind of physician!” You see the thing is 10 out of 10 people die. Death, no matter your view of it, will be a part of your life in some way. The career path God has placed me on, puts me in a place that I can either help you prepare for that time whenever it may come or I can help you ignore it and try to prolong the inevitable. The overarching theme from this oncologist was that more than anything we must “Be” Christ to our patients, well really to everyone. They need that authentic love and care that we can only give if we take time to get to know them. Love is a universal language and in times of death, no matter what the religious back ground of a person, that is how you can show Christ to them. You see if I didn’t have Christ, and didn’t have the hope I have in Him, I would have to build a wall between me and each patient otherwise I would break from the overwhelming weight of it all. But it is essential that I become vulnerable and know my patients so I can care for them the way they need it. I don’t have time to go into all the details of the talk, but I was so impressed by his knowledge of God and how he applied it in the most critical of times.
This Oncologist really loves his patients, and as a result he is helping them and their families face death in the best way possible. For believers he reminded us they have already been healed when Christ died on the cross and that physically God will heal them either on Earth or in Heaven. For those who don’t know Christ, he told us to still talk of God and act out God’s love showing its authenticity. We can help patients and families gain closure by talking through realistic goals before hand and getting to know what’s important to each individual patient. He also stressed that we must help patients let go, because ultimately the outcome is out of our control. One of the best things about the points he made is that really, this is how we should be living everyday life. If we are faithful to daily take up our cross and abide in Christ, this will come naturally as we interact with everyone around us. These are not principles only for those who deal with dying, but this is how the body of Christ should show hope and love to a dying world.
Lord, please, would you shape me and mold me into that kind of physician that can be vulnerable in order to love like you love. Would you give me the words in each moment to help patients and their families prepare for the unknown. Would your love so overflow from me that they would see you in the midst of their darkest days. You defeated death, and so I shall not fear it, but let me not be so naive to think that even those who know you do not feel the pain it brings. Lord, whatever your plans for me, prepare me to help those in my influence die the good death.
Tonight we brought in an oncologist from Pittsburg to talk about just that. He deals in the area of bone marrow transplants, and unfortunately he is part of the dying process for many of his patients. Honestly, I’m still digesting all he had to say, but as he talked all I could think was “I want to be that kind of physician!” You see the thing is 10 out of 10 people die. Death, no matter your view of it, will be a part of your life in some way. The career path God has placed me on, puts me in a place that I can either help you prepare for that time whenever it may come or I can help you ignore it and try to prolong the inevitable. The overarching theme from this oncologist was that more than anything we must “Be” Christ to our patients, well really to everyone. They need that authentic love and care that we can only give if we take time to get to know them. Love is a universal language and in times of death, no matter what the religious back ground of a person, that is how you can show Christ to them. You see if I didn’t have Christ, and didn’t have the hope I have in Him, I would have to build a wall between me and each patient otherwise I would break from the overwhelming weight of it all. But it is essential that I become vulnerable and know my patients so I can care for them the way they need it. I don’t have time to go into all the details of the talk, but I was so impressed by his knowledge of God and how he applied it in the most critical of times.
This Oncologist really loves his patients, and as a result he is helping them and their families face death in the best way possible. For believers he reminded us they have already been healed when Christ died on the cross and that physically God will heal them either on Earth or in Heaven. For those who don’t know Christ, he told us to still talk of God and act out God’s love showing its authenticity. We can help patients and families gain closure by talking through realistic goals before hand and getting to know what’s important to each individual patient. He also stressed that we must help patients let go, because ultimately the outcome is out of our control. One of the best things about the points he made is that really, this is how we should be living everyday life. If we are faithful to daily take up our cross and abide in Christ, this will come naturally as we interact with everyone around us. These are not principles only for those who deal with dying, but this is how the body of Christ should show hope and love to a dying world.
Lord, please, would you shape me and mold me into that kind of physician that can be vulnerable in order to love like you love. Would you give me the words in each moment to help patients and their families prepare for the unknown. Would your love so overflow from me that they would see you in the midst of their darkest days. You defeated death, and so I shall not fear it, but let me not be so naive to think that even those who know you do not feel the pain it brings. Lord, whatever your plans for me, prepare me to help those in my influence die the good death.
Comments
Post a Comment