Lynn Byers provides me a very personal window on Haiti and the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake. A member of my congregation, she writes in her blog Missionary Nurse: Haiti ...
15 February 2011 (2200)
How often we ache for Christ's return when we see tragedy and pain. There was a 28 year old female medical patient that cardiac arrested in the middle of the day. I was eating lunch when they came to get me. Angela, the CRNA was bagging her and the Haitian doctor on call was doing chest compressions. No one knew the patient at all, but it appeared she had been having seizures because there was foam coming out of her mouth. The crash cart was messy so you couldn't find anything and they were doing compressions without a back board, so we had to run to find epi (the med to try to start the heart again) & a back board. We tried, but were not able to save her life. I didn't know this patient at all, but it's hard to see so much death. I've seen 4-5 deaths in the last 4 months (that isn't including the 2-5 deaths in the neonatal ICU they seem to have every month). Back home, I only saw 2 years in 2 years (granted I also didn't work in an ICU). I can't imagine dealing with the amount of death they did after the earthquake and even with this cholera outbreak. It's nothing you can truly prepare for. There are not that many ICU beds for PaP (maybe 1 or 2 hospitals have ICU beds). This was a pretty tragic death that could have probably been prevented. The doctor on call wrote death from a seizure secondary to severe dehydration. But 2 problems: She had been in the hospital 4 days so how can someone be that dehydrated in a hospital after 4 days and also apparently the family kept telling the nurse something's wrong but the nurse didn't do anything about it. If they would have fixed her seizures right away, she would never have gone into cardiac arrest. So basically, it was most likely a preventable death. So that's a hard fact I learned today, even though we have most of the supplies, we don't have all the training here. I have experienced more codes here than ever before and I'm learning. It's hard for us to accept these things from our American perspective. But you can only do what you can with supplies and training available. We are here to try to improve training though because a case like this should not have happened in a hospital that was equipped to deal with it. Read more
Kelsey Wettig, a young lady from my congregation posted these magnificent photos on her Facebook page.
Nick Francis Stephens reflected a while back on the movie The Matrix
One of my favorite cinematic scenes is from the movie The Matrix, a science-fiction action film starring Keanu Reeves released in the late 90's. The film depicts a future where life is a technologically simulated reality. It’s a story of slavery and freedom, choice and illusion. Although the film carries a plethora of thought provoking ideas, the most profound moment for me is probably much different than that of others.
The main character Neo, played by Keanu Reeves, is believed to be “The One”, a savior of sorts who alone is capable of bringing an end to the matrix’s rule. Neo gets rescued from the matrix and is taken to the oracle to receive affirmation concerning this anointing, only to hear the response, "sorry kid, you just don't have what it takes”.
Do you ever wonder what the purpose of your life is? Believing one thing in your heart but yet another in reality? Do you wonder if you can actually obtain it? What if you already missed it? How many times have you attempted and failed? How often have you engaged in the never ending cycle of faith and failure where the end result is always the same: intimacy rejected, destiny lost, meaning and purpose elusive yet again.
I love this scene in the movie because if you have seen the conclusion you know that Neo’s anointing did actually come true even though the words spoken earlier confirmed otherwise. The obstacle that Neo faced is similar to the obstacle that we face as well. We have to overcome the challenges of disbelief, doubt and failure. We must abandon the affirmation our hearts long for, an excuse to simply avoid our life’s purpose now!
How does this apply to you and to me? After all, it certainly seems true to me that yes, we do not have what it takes. But is it possible that God actually personally invites us to take part in a different reality? A reality where faith collides with our choices to obey and fully surrender our lives to his authority. A place where his love consumes all of our doubt and disbelief. I am convinced that when we come to this place, God has complete access to work in our lives and once we have fully died to ourselves, we are fully capable of going anywhere, going everywhere he leads!
Lent starts tomorrow. Sharon writes a blog called SHE WORSHIPS that is often thought-provoking. In a post "Is it well with your soul?"she shares these thoughts.
The topic for the retreat was “Soul Matters” and we examined the importance of tending to our souls. The first session began with a brief “diagnosis” of our souls, a test I was fairly certain I would ace.
Well, long story short, I didn’t.
The diagnostic tool was simple. We were asked to make two lists, one titled “Symptoms of Soul Neglect” and the other “Symptoms of Soul Health.” Our speaker instructed us to reflect on the previous 24 hours and assign each emotion/reaction/state of mind to one of the two lists. Here’s how my 2 lists looked:
Symptoms of Soul Neglect:
- Fear
- Stress
- Panic
- Frustration
- Impatience
- Generous spirit
- Determination to trust in God
- Excitement to serve God
- Love for others
Second, I was able to list off the symptoms of soul neglect without a moment of hesitation. They poured out of me. The symptoms of soul health, on the other hand, were hard to ferret out. I had to sit and think for quite awhile, and even then they were rather abstract. Nothing simple like “joy” or “peace.”
What you should also know about me is that my life has been pretty great lately. Sure, there are challenges from time to time, but overall this has been a time of clear skies and new adventures. I have felt very blessed, and I assumed by spiritual state corresponded to my present circumstances. In view of my “soul assessment,” however, I was obviously mistaken. read more
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