How to remain Christian? (Psalm 1:1)

In a hospital that is founded on Christian values but set upon a very materialistic world, temptations of evils come from every side. Even within the hospital, it is not unusual to see bits of the devil's work. You hear it from conversations about who wants to do wrong to who, thoughts of anger, vengeance, lust, and malice. You even see it done in public. The rampant and widespread claw of evil does not spare anyone. Temptations creep even to the noblest and holiest of humans.

One thing that I have realized in my stay here in the hospital is that it is easy to be a Christian but hard to remain one. Of course, at first instance, no amount of human strength will ever be enough for us to resist evil if not with the power of God. It is only by God's grace and strength that we are able to remain in God's presence.

The Psalmist in 1:1 reminds us that because we are planted and rooted deeply in the stream of water that nourishes us, we are able to withstand any withering. We bare good fruits because we are sustained by the water of life. And however strong is the wind, whatever drought may come, our strong foundation will sustain us.

Our life in the hospital cannot be said to be perfect. We will always eet temptations. In a place where everybody is stressed, fatigued, and tired; it is easy to get angry, mad, envious and commit evil. But as long as we remain close to the stream of God's living water, the peace of God will always be with us.

What To Say?

The first week of y hospital training is done. The three days that I was on duty, one thing kept bothering me. What will I tell patients? How will I be a compassionate doctor without sacrificng my decisiveness? So I thought, I will tell you folks verbatims about doctors instructions and dialogues with patients that helps me learn and become better Christian doctors.

Like the first night I was on duty, there came a patient who was drunk. He kept demanding doctors to come attend to him even after he was attended to and was already stabilized. How can a doctor refuse his pestering demands so that the doctor can attend to other patients, without being impolite to the drunk patient? Here, the doctor was very firm but gently said that "I already attended to you, talked to you but it seems you are drunk and unable to comprehend well. Now I have to attend to other patients." Simple, firm but still polite. Yet, the drunk patient still kept complaining and demanding that the doctor talk to him and attend to him. One thing I learned, a doctor need not be too polite to heed to every patient request. One must also learn to refuse and follow one own judgement especially if there are other important matters to attend to (not that the drunk patient was unimportant but that other patients are important to attend to as well). Simple logic, but sometimes difficult to practice especially when you are overtaken by annoyance and anger to persistent patients.

Looking from the other side

The last three years have been an exciting journey for me. I was given the oppurtunity to see the theology from an academic perspective. It was also a time for me to learn about church people's theology. And as I try to find and learn more about the intersection of theology and medicine, I will be looking from the other side of the equation. The next five years will be a journey into the medical field as I train to be a surgeon. I hope you will journey with me as I try to find where God is and how God works in the medical field, among the sick and the dying. I hope we will all enjoy and learn in this new exciting oppurtunity.

Psalms 51

Psalms 51
(Prayer by Little Paradise)

1 Loving and Merciful God, have mercy on me… Take away my sins…
2 Forgive me so you can see me to my basicness, simpleness, and inner beauty that is underneath
3 I recognize my wrongdoing because it is in front of my face
4 Because you are my God and you are righteous, I confess before you that I am a sinner and your judgment against me is right
5 I was born prideful already. Before I was even able to sit up on my own, I already thought I was better than others
6 You want us to be honest and laid bare before you so that you can teach us who you are and who you want us to be
7 So You have to wash my stains Lord with the best cleaner so that I will be clean and white again
8 Bring me back to life… back to my senses
9 See me for who I want to be, please
10 Make me function perfectly and re-breath into me a breath that last
11 Be with me forever. Although I am a sinner, please do not take your Spirit from me lest I feel unrest
12 Let me realize the greatness of your gift of forgiveness. Open my heart so I will allow you to do what you want instead of what I want.

Jesus has bobo...

It's Holy Week. And we are trying to tell our 2 years old daughter what it is all about. Her mother told her about how Jesus came in a parade on Palm Sunday but that later some "not good" people took him and put him in "timeout." It becomes tricky because she gets "timeout" when she does something not nice to make us upset, but Jesus did not do anything "not nice." It confuses her how Jesus got "timeout." Then the "not good" people hurt Jesus and put him in the cross. With a sad look in her face, she replied, "Oh, Jesus has bobo."
Now, it's only Good Friday. We still have to tell her the story of Jesus's death and resurrection on Easter. That will be a challenge...

Who is your God?

Last weeks episode of Gray's Anatomy showed us a glimpse of how people - patients, their families and doctors, perceive healing by God.
Dr. Allison Montgomery was back in Seattle Grace to bring his brother who needed brain surgery. Her brother's case was next to impossible to be resolved. Thus, Dr. Montgomery seeks the help of God. Quite interestingly, she goes to two different gods. In one scene, we see her in the chapel, down on her knees, silently staring at the cross. We gather from her friend's comments who were watching her that she is not a known churchgoer. In fact, she doesn't know how to pray. Here is a doctor that doesn't know how to pray - basically she doesn't know how to talk to God. She cannot verbalize the desires of her heart that her brother would be healed and that her brain surgery will be succesful.
On the next scene, we see Dr. Montgomery pleading to her ex-husband, the great neurosurgeon Dr. Shephard. Dr. Montgomery asked Dr. Derek Shephard to play god - to be powerful enough to cure her brother. She pleads whole heartedly, emotionally and with with tears flowing from her eyes. It almost looks like she is praying to Dr. Shephard for help.
Here are two pictures of the gods that people look up to in times of need. In the first case, God is perceived as the healer. But as often the case, God is only called upon in times of need. God is the patch to every hole. A band aid to every scratch. On the otherhand, medicine is the healer. Medical science can figure out a creative way to work around the difficulties of diseases and solve the problem. Medicine can do anything. Medicine is god.
Notice that in the two scenario, I have left out the doctor. The reasons I did that needs another blog. Suffice it to say, that the doctor here is perceived to the gods.
The point of the distinction I am making is that in times of medical crisis, we pray to a god to help us. We seek a powerful god. Sometimes we seek help from God. Sometimes we seek help from medicine. Sometimes we seek help from both because one is not enough. It is the latter two that I will criticize. Most of the time, we are blinded by the fact that when we seek medical help we put our hope in medicine. We make medicine the god who can heal us. Yes, we might believe that there is God but we really think that it is medical science who cures us. We simply reduce God to a metaphor of healing power. We do not really trust that God can work miracles and heal diseases. Worse, like the second case, we might indeed be praying that God will heal us. But in case he does not, we hope that medicine will step up and pick up the slack. Sad but true. Now, when we ourselves are faced in a situation similar to that of Dr. Montgomery, to whom will we pray?

Horton Hears a Who

This movie has a lot of theological meanings. It challenges the popular notion to "see is to believe." It gives a strong case of how to describe faith in a very simplistic way. Simply because one cannot see a thing does not mean something does not exist. Horton strongly believes there are living beings in the speck although he cannot see them.
It also gives a strong illustration of faith. Horton holds on to his belief despite costing him to be banished from his society. He was persecuted. It will even cost him his life as the society clamored for him to give up his belief.
It also challenges the human arrogance that we are alon in this universe. In a sense, it adheres both to the idea that there could be other living beings other than us and there could be a greater being than us. This is what makes the movie interseting, Horton plays the powerful and bigger being that "holds the world in His hand."
Another interesting metaphor is the "tiny little voice" that most people refer to. For most, it could be our conscience. For Christians, it could be God. Well, God is not a tiny voice, so one can also see the metaphor of a Supreme Being talking from the heavens with a great powerful voice.
And then there is the ultimate sacrifice that Horton did to save the whole world - of the Whos. Sounds familiar? Christ came to save the world from the power of sin and death. Horton saves the world of the Who from instability and sure death.
This Christmas, this kind of movies is nice and a good starting point for children and youth to have a theological discussion.