Comfort & Mercy

USNS Comfort and USNS Mercy

“Tell us please, what treatment in an emergency is administered by ear?"....I met his gaze and I did not blink. "Words of comfort," I said to my father.” 

― Abraham Verghese in “Cutting for Stone”

“These clinical moments lay bare the normative and moral work of physicians, endeavors that have historically provided the foundation for sustained therapeutic activity between patients and physicians. They also reveal a larger truth that if the arc of medicine is to ultimately bend toward healing, mercy will be its fulcrum.” 

- TP Daaleman

Blessed are the merciful,

    for they will be shown mercy.

Matthew 5:7 (NIV)

The ships USNS Comfort and USNS Mercy have sailed and arrived at the ports of need.  What are we to understand of how their mission will live into their names?  What do we understand about those names and the missions of healing in so many places of need?  

“Healing Comfort” is not comfortable. There are risky and vulnerable acts that "sail" directly into the threat and stand with those who are both infected and inflicted with suffering.  It is an act of Love.  We have seen it before and we know it when we see it.  It is found in places and activities that we usually label as the “arts”.  For Christians, it is found in the symbol of the “red cross” on the sides of both these ships.

“Healing Mercy” is not about what we do.  It is about what we receive.  It is free.  It requires an openness and receptivity that is not a common human behavior.  It is part of the same reality of God’s Grace.  It is a particular reality  during Lent as we come to more deeply understand and celebrate new realities in our lives.  

We have stories to tell about how our lives will be changed by these two prophetic words of Hope.

Thanks be to the God of Comfort and Mercy.

Marvin

References:

USNS Mercy, USNS Comfort: 2020 COVID-19 Deployment (26 March 2020)

https://navylive.dodlive.mil/2020/03/26/usns-mercy-usns-comfort-2020-covid-19-deployment/

Verghese, A. (2010). Cutting for Stone (1st ed.). Vintage Books.

Daaleman TP. A piece of my mind. The quality of mercy: will you be my doctor?.

JAMA.  312(18):1863-4, 2014 Nov 12.

Hage, M. L. (2015). The Challenge.

http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-challenge.html

M & M - "Who's Presenting?"

Morbidity & Mortality Conference 

Dr. Li Wenliang  - First Responder Hero

One of the great traditions of medicine has been the “Morbidity and Mortality” conference.  It is practiced in a number of ways within the profession.  The underlying belief is that suffering and deaths always have something to teach us - there is always learning to be applied to the care of the living.

Some of the “rules” of the conferences are careful choice of the cases and careful chronologic presentation of the specifics and timing of medical care responses.  It must be openly honest to be effective.  It is performed by a community.  The best outcomes are specific changes applied to the delivery of care in the “next case”.  It abhors defensive responses.  It is a difficult tradition but at its best it is a healing event.

There is always a key question, “Who is presenting?” That strikes fear into the heart of a resident physician who knows it is not just an academic exercise.   In our current situation it seems like that could be anyone of us.   We will be judged by how honest we are and what we learn.

So what have we learned so far?

1. We are connected by the ubiquity of suffering and death.
2. We have servant leaders who respond with creativity and courage. 
3. Resilience and Resistance are part of the courage response.
4. Spiritual health care is a critical ongoing response.

Here is a “senior attending” comment by David Brooks: The Moral Meaning of the Plague.  I am sure we will learn more and be able to put names and places on what we are living.

Shalom,

Marvin

References:

South China Morning Post

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3049561/dr-li-wenliang-who-was-he-and-how-did-he-become-coronavirus-hero

The morbidity and mortality conference: the delicate nature of learning from error.

Academic Medicine. 77(10):1001-6, 2002 Oct.

To the Point: Integrating Patient Safety Education Into the Obstetrics and Gynecology Undergraduate Curriculum. 

Journal of Patient Safety. 16(1):e39-e45, March 2020.

Hage, M. L. (2013). Resistance/Resilience

http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2013/08/resistanceresilience.html

Hage, M. L. (2012). God’s Grace.

http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2012/10/gods-grace.html 

Brooks, D. The Moral Meaning of the Plague

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/26/opinion/coronavirus-meaning.html

Healing History Revisited

Tuskegee Museum, Tuskegee University

Emanuel A.M.E. Church

Charleston, South Carolina

Equal Justice Memorial

Montgomery, Alabama

We just returned from a short road trip.  We wanted to learn about our own history as a nation.  We wanted to see how our personal stories connected to the larger stories of our communities.  We wanted to be surprised!   We needed real news that we saw with our own eyes.  We were not disappointed - See the web “Travel References”.

My lasting impression is that there are young voices who are telling the stories and are searching for healing.  Healing happens in small acts of kindness as well as the large memorials and museums.  What continues to impress me is the power of the visual arts and the voices of the Black churches.  These are places that tell the bigger stories of all our lives.  How come I didn’t’ know the history in my current community?

Like other histories, the real tragedy is not telling or remembering. These histories focus our vision on who we can be.

Marvin

Travel References:

Legacy Museum - Tuskegee University

https://www.tuskegee.edu/libraries/legacy-museum

Hiztorical Vision Productions

http://www.hiztoricalvp.org

Equal Justice Initiative

https://museumandmemorial.eji.org

Red Clay Tours - “Fight for Rights Tour”

https://www.redclaytourism.com

Zucchino, D. (2020). Wilmington’s lie : the murderous coup of 1898 and the rise of white supremacy (First edition. ed.). New York: Atlantic Monthly Press

References:

Hage, M. L. (2017). Healing History

http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2017/10/healing-history.html

Hage, M. L. (2016). Healing Hate

http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2016/06/healing-hate.html

Hage, M. (2015). Well Being.

http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2015/06/well-being.html

Hage, M. L. (2015). Confrontation, Conversation and Healing.

http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2015/01/confrontation-conversation-and-healing.html

Hage, M. L. (2016). The Search for Healing.

http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-search-for-healing.html