Healing Missions

Mission

Calvin College equips students

to think deeply,

to act justly,

and to live wholeheartedly

as Christ’s agents of renewal in the world.

David Brooks in his recent book, The Road to Character, outlines the paths of and the ideas behind a meaningful life.  Like the last post, “Healing Stories”, we get to hear the stories of struggle and healing in the lives of some famous historical figures and are challenged to examine our own stories.

The book is descriptive and prescriptive!  The authority behind the prescription is a deep faith and purpose demonstrated in the life stories.  This model of education resonated with my teaching a freshman seminar at Duke University and a medical school elective.  We required the students to write a biography of someone they admired.  It was a wonderful experience to share the stories and see them lived out in the lives of the students.  The good news is there is a path based on a faith and mission that results in a wholeness in our lives. 

This weekend, I attended the Calvin College commencement and the alumni reunion of the class of 1965  The alumni shared their faith and life stories as they lived out the mission of Calvin College.   I was inspired by their lives and their faith.

Thanks for letting an “outsider” hear and be a part of the Calvin story and to David Brooks for a challenging book.

Marvin

References:

https://www.calvin.edu/about/who-we-are/

Brooks, D. (2015). The Road to Character. Random House

Hage, M. L. (2015). Healing Stories. Retrieved from http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2015/04/healing-stories_17.html

"Exploring Medicine: Cross-cultural Challenges in the 21st Century” 1/95-3/98  Duke University Medical Center

Healing Stories

“The difference here is legacy is an act of ego, while teaching is an act of faith.”

Bruce Kramer

In the midst of a very severe trial, 

their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.

   2 Corinthians 8:2 (NIV)

The broadcast of the experiences of Bruce Kramer with Krista Tippett, “On Being”, is a moving account of his life after the diagnosis of ALS.  He has also written a book and blog not as a legacy, but as a lesson on living.

For me the best part of the book is how “art” is the medium that helps us see and understand his life.  For Bruce it was music in his life and his teaching vocation that were the basis of the healing he experienced. These two “loves” were the foundation of his healing.

Another important story for me, is how Bruce Kramer’s living mirrors the experience of Chris Rosati.  Chris’s first lesson for all of us focused on gifts of doughnuts!  Who knew the healing power of doughnuts?  He has continued to reach out to students and communities and that has been inspiration to all of us.  

These two men have a lot to teach us about living!   Thanks for the lives and witnesses of Bruce Kramer and Chris Rosati and for their healing lessons.

Marvin

References:

Bruce Kramer

Kramer, Bruce H.; Wurzer, Cathy (2015-04-01). We Know How This Ends: Living while Dying (Kindle Location 118). University of Minnesota Press. Kindle Edition.

http://onbeing.org/program/bruce-kramer-forgiving-the-body-life-with-als/7420

Kramer, B. H., & Wurzer, C. (2015). We Know How This Ends: Living while Dying (1 ed.). Univ Of Minnesota Press.

https://diseasediary.wordpress.com/2014/02/09/from-the-silence/

Chris Rosati

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/nc-man-bakes-up-krispy-kreme-caper/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/16/chris-rosati-als_n_6880546.html

http://www.inspiremedianetwork.org

Going Far Together

A song of ascents.

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—

    where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord,

    the Maker of heaven and earth. 

Psalm 121: 1-2 (NIV)

“If you want to go fast, go alone.  If you want to go far, go together.” 

African Proverb

I have been in Kenya this last month and those experiences alter your vision!   Upon returning, a common expectation is to share what we saw.  I have come to believe that the most important response is how those experiences change “vision.”  I returned with new perspectives of what we have come to believe is reality.

What is most surprising on returning is how central to our lives are the images that confront us daily.  We are overwhelmed with media and advertising that were absent where we lived for a month.  We were in an environment where relationships were the most important and real.   We were blessed to have new relationships as well as reconnecting with others.

The experiences at Tenwek Hospital were about deep relationships and a common faith. That connectedness is what is contained in the African proverb and in a favorite Psalm.

Marvin

References

See blog: Kenya 2015 - motown1941.blogspot.com

Battle, M. (2009). Ubuntu: I in you and you in me. Seabury Books.

Hage, M. L. (2012). Rx Ubuntu. Retrieved from http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2012/04/rx-ubuntu.html

Confrontation, Conversation and Healing

Children of Peace

“Peace from above” - Amani ya Juu

Keep your tongue from evil

    and your lips from telling lies.

Turn from evil and do good;

    seek peace and pursue it.

Psalm 34: 13-14 (NIV)

But let justice roll on like a river,

    righteousness like a never-failing stream!

Amos 5:24 (NIV)

It has been a tragic couple of weeks of deadly confrontation.  We have been drawn into debates with complicated choices.  What do we all want?  Where is the common ground?  Where is the path of healing?  The answers are unclear from our media driven culture.  The answers are unclear in our violent responses. 

If we believe the psalmist, it starts within each of us speaking the truth that moves us to “seeking”!  We have seen examples of this reconciliation in the context of truth telling.  We have come to understand our interconnectedness in the concept of “Ubuntu”!  We have been forgiven and have a mission of healing that comes from our deepest beliefs and longings for peace and justice.

Today, let us look for those “connections” that are the basis of conversation and see our conversation as an opportunity and a gift.  We can have healing, if we live generously out of those relationships.  It is a divine promise!

Shalom,

Marvin

References 

Battle, M. (2009). Ubuntu: I in you and you in me. Seabury Books.

Hage, M. L. (2012). Healing and Violence. Retrieved from http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2012/12/healing-and-violence.html

Tutu, D., & Tutu, M. (2014). The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World. HarperOne

Telling the Story

Come and hear, all you who fear God;

    let me tell you what he has done for me.

Psalm 66:16 (NIV)

I have read two wonderful books, Endurance and Deep, Dark, Down that describe survival of two very different groups of men.  The stories are true, complicated and instructive to all of our ordinary lives!

What is similar in both reports is the importance of being able to tell the story.   These very talented authors have been able to listen and read the accounts to craft a story of healing and salvation.  Both authors describe the critical importance of leadership and  the importance of “others” in the task of survival.  Both describe the miracles of faith and hope.

Like the authors, we have the wonderful privilege to listen and tell the stories of healing and with that opportunity we also find meaning and healing in our own lives!

Marvin

References

Lansing, A. (2014). Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage (Anniversary Edition ed.). Basic Books

Tobar, H. (2014). Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Hage, M. L. (2010). An International Healer Parable. Retrieved from http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2010/10/international-healing-parable.html

Hage, M. L. (2011). Pilgrimage and Healing. Retrieved from http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2011/02/pilgrimage-and-healing.html

Hage, M. L. (2012). God, Trials and Fears. Retrieved from http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2012/04/god-trials-and-fears.html

Hope Agents

“And whenever I see people engaged in that work of love, 

I sense the divine presence brushing us with a touch so gentle you can miss it, 

and yet know beyond all possibility of doubt 

that this is what we are called on to live for, 

to ease the pain of those who suffer 

and become an agent of hope in the world.”  

“Hope is not costless in the way that optimism is.”

                                                      Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

It is easy to forget who we are and what we do!  I was reminded this last week in two ways, by the book The Great Partnership: Science, Religion, and the Search for Meaning by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks and the public attention to the heroes of our time.  The Time announcement and the CNN Heroes helped us see the reality of Hope.  We were all reminded of the reality of vocation.

These headlines were not about fear, equality or even the stock exchange. It was about dedication and the reality of disease that got the attention of the world.   It was about the definition of “heroes” as those who create those safe spaces in a world of threats and pain.  It was about being healing agents by bringing Hope to a suffering world.

The message for me was the importance of the integration of our theology with the reality of our world and the meaning it brings.  We have seen the deeds before and we were reminded again of the reality of God’s work in the world.  

Marvin

References:

Sacks, Jonathan (2012-09-11). The Great Partnership: Science, Religion, and the Search for Meaning (p. 206, p 242). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/10/2014-person-of-the-year-time-magazine_n_6287954.html

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/us/cnn-heroes

Hage, M. L. (2012). God’s Grace. Retrieved from 

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

Hage, M.L. (2014). The Limits of Healing? Retrieved from 

http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-limits-of-healing.html

Hage, M. L. (2014). Healing Ebola. Retrieved from 

http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2014/10/healing-ebola.html

Ancestry Gift

Start children off on the way they should go, 

and even when they are old they will not turn from it.   

Proverbs 22:6 (NIV)

 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, 

that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

1 John 3:1 (NIV)

It all started with a request from our granddaughter to provide five generations of ancestors for a school project.  That wasn’t too hard, but finding the specifics and the stories behind these names was harder.  The good news is that we rediscovered some wonderful ancestor stories already in our possession.

What was more important than the pedigree of names, dates and places were stories of a sustaining faith even in the face of very difficult circumstances. The obvious question is “Are those characteristics of strength, courage and faith, elements of nature or nurture?”  Will this school assignment teach these life lessons?  Will sharing the stories help us live our own story with more purpose and meaning?

There is a lot of debate theologically and scientifically about the origins of faith and meaning.  Rabbi Jonathan Sacks in his recent book, The Great Partnership: Science, Religion and the Search for Meaning, articulates a comprehensive response that promotes the integration of these perspectives.  

As a new grandfather, I thought it was important to document the early history of my grandchildren, so I made short videos of their births and baptisms.  Now, questions about our family history are new chapters in their stories. What a gift to be invited to be a partner in learning with them the stories of our ancestors!

Marvin

References

Sacks, J. (2014). The Great Partnership: Science, Religion, and the Search for Meaning (Reprint ed.). Schocken