Big Healing

You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.     Psalm 63:1 (NIV)

[ A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah. ]

The desert and the parched land will be glad;

    the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.

Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom;

    it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.  Isaiah 35: 1-2 (NIV)

I recently (11/5/2013) had the opportunity to hear T.R. Reid, author of The Healing of America, describe his world-wide experience with health care.  He was able to combine data, history and personal experience in support of a moral argument for a more just health care system. 

With a different focus, Richard Rodriquez in his book, Darling: A Spiritual Autobiography, reflects on the events and etiologies of 9/11.   He is able to weave his stories of personal formation with an understanding of the traditions that have given birth to religious conflict. For him, relationships are the keys to healing and ultimately, like the psalmist, it is his relationship to God!

Both of these authors address the big idea of Healing. They help us reflect on where and how healing happens and why it doesn’t.  Healing is one of those big ideas that needs to be woven into the stories of all our lives.   Thanks to both of these men for there works.

Marvin

References

Reid, T. R. (2010). The Healing of America (Reprint ed.). Penguin Books.

Rodriguez, Richard. Darling: A Spiritual Autobiography Penguin Group US. Kindle Edition.

Hage, M. L. (2013). Healing Spaces. Retrieved from      http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2013/11/healing-spaces.html

Hage, Marvin (2010-12-01). Healing Agents: Christian Perspectives. Kindle Edition. 

Difficult Conversations

In Vitro Fertilization Image

For you created my inmost being;

    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

    your works are wonderful,

    I know that full well.

Psalm 139:13-14 (NIV)

In her recent book, No Easy Choice: A Story of Disability, Parenthood and Faith in a Age of Advanced Reproduction, Ellen Painter Dollar describes the difficult conversations with modern health care as well as with her faith communities.   She describes the dilemmas in painful detail but is able to conclude:

"For Christians, one story—about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ—prevails over all the hurts and joys that influence how we frame our life story on any given day. Being a Christian is about continually and consciously choosing to believe that hope, healing, and life conquer despair, brokenness, and death no matter what each day brings. Christian faith is ultimately an invitation to believe the better story, about a God who fixes what is broken, heals what is hurt, and brings what is dead to life. That is the story I cling to, and to which I turn when I’m trying to make sense of my childbearing decisions and the promise and peril of reproductive technologies."

The challenge for all of us is to listen and respond.  One response that was missing in this narrative is a healing prayer with this family by and with her health care providers.  They did not acknowledge the mystery of the lives that were shared with them.   We need be able to appreciate the invitation that this book gives to all of us in a technologic medical world.

Marvin

References

Dollar, Ellen Painter (2012-01-17). No Easy Choice: A Story of Disability, Parenthood, and Faith in an Age of Advanced Reproduction (Kindle Locations 2900-2905). Westminster John Knox Press. Kindle Edition. 

Hage, M. L. (2013). Praying for Stem Cells. Retrieved from http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2013/02/praying-for-stem-cells.html

Hage, M. L. (2010). Healing Agents: Christian Perspectives Second Edition (2 ed.). CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

Healing Spaces

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Psalm 23: 1-3

King James Version (KJV)

“In a church we learn to do ministry together.  We teach each other what Grace looks like and how it feels to be treated like a child of God.”

Rev. Dr. Douglas Brouwer, “One hand washes the other” September 3, 2006

Second Presbyterian Church, Indianapolis, Indiana

Dr. Esther Sternberg in a conversation with Krista Tippett (On Being) describes the importance of the healing environment.   She used as as her first example the wisdom of the Psalmist.

We all continue to look for those spaces in our lives that bring wholeness.  What we frequently miss is the origin of these spaces in God’s creation.  We attempt to duplicate these holy spaces in our churches, cathedrals, temples and hospitals.   We know that these spaces are important.   

For me, a holy space has been “educational” in the encounters with both patients and students.  It is a holy space that many times is corrupted by power, competition and credentials.  What is awesome is seeing the results even years later in their healing lives.  It is life-giving.

Marvin

References

Sternberg, E. M. (2010). Healing Spaces: The Science of Place and Well-Being (1 ed.). Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

Verhulst J.  Kramer D.  Swann AC.  Hale-Richlen B.  Beahrs J. The medical alliance: from placebo response to alliance effect. [Review] Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease.  201(7):546-52, 2013 Jul.

Larkin GL.  Mello MJ. Commentary: doctors without boundaries: the ethics of teacher-student relationships in academic medicine.  Academic Medicine.  85(5):752-5, 2010 May.

God's Grace Revisited

Surgery Board at Tenwek Hospital, Kenya

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.  

Ephesians 2:19-20 (NIV)

“From an African perspective, to NOT make a spiritual connection with patients is 

essentially medical malpractice.”

    Suzanne R. Snyder, MD Medical Missionary to the Masai

It is often difficult to relate to patients but it is an essential part of caring for patients no matter where you practice.  Language, cultures and the limited knowledge of the patient’s history makes establishing a relationship a challenge.

What I have found is that the organization that you represent is an important ingredient in how that relationship is understood.   When you are identified with a medical organization with a clear statement of its mission, you have a basis for the beginning of a relationship that has the opportunity to transcend the barriers of culture and language. 

So beside the diplomas and credentials, it is important for patients to know that we are more than just competent!   We must  build a relationship in the belief that the outcome will be healing.  For Christians this is done for the glory of God and his Kingdom.  It is  in those relationships, a living mystery,  that we have the privilege to experience God’s Grace. 

Marvin

References

Jolles EP.  Clark AM.  Braam B.  Getting the message across: opportunities and obstacles in effective communication in hypertension care. [Review] Journal of Hypertension.  30(8):1500-10, 2012 Aug.

Abedini NC.  Gruppen LD.  Kolars JC.  Kumagai AK. Understanding the effects of short-term international service-learning trips on medical students. Academic Medicine.  87(6):820-8, 2012 Jun.

Hage, M. L. (2012). God’s Grace. Retrieved from http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2012/10/

Tenderness

Mother and Infant statue at St. Vincent Women’s Hospital, Indianapolis, Indiana

For I too was a son to my father,

    still tender, and cherished by my mother.

Proverbs 4:3 (NIV)

Seven years ago, 2006, I saw this statue in the waiting area at St. Vincent Women’s Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana.  It spoke to me of the tender care provided by mothers to their infants.   This is an icon of tenderness!

More recently, I have heard the strong but tender voice of Jean Vanier who articulates a contemporary theology of medicine.  He is the founder of the L’Arche communities where tenderness is at the center of the care.  That tenderness leads to a wonderful spirit of gratitude and joy. You can find that same gratitude and joy from others like the minister, Nadia Bolz-Weber, and the scientist, Natalie Batalha.

What is common in these images, voices and messages is what occurs in the lives of healing agents.  The good news is there are new virtual spaces like “On Being” with Krista Tippett that allow us to hear the words and see the actions of tenderness.

Marvin

References:

Levin J.  "And let us make us a name": reflections on the future of the religion and health field.   Journal of Religion & Health.  48(2):125-45, 2009 Jun.

Hage, M. L. (2013). The Nature of Healing. Retrieved from http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-nature-of-healing.html

Hage, M. L. (2013). Residential Learning. Retrieved from http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2013/03/residential-learning.html

Hage, M. L. (2013). A Theology of Medicine. Retrieved from http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2013/07/a-theology-of-medicine.html

Rounds are Over!

Ready for Rounds

On September 1, 2013, I attended my last clinical morning rounds.  This activity and habit has been a part of my life for almost 50 years.  It has been a method of learning, teaching and caring for patients.  There are certainly other important methods, but this has been a key to sharing information.

This activity has changed remarkably.  In the past memorization was key.  We needed to remember the history, physical and laboratory findings of each patient that we saw.  We then had to be ready to answer questions regarding the pathology and management of the disease.  Today, the patient and disease information exist in the “peripheral brains” (clinical computers and databases) of the clinical team.  What hasn’t changed is getting the clinical history from the patient, family and other team members.  We still need to sit, listen and touch patients.

It is a strange feeling to close these chapters of clinical learning and teaching.  The rounds that would sometime seem endless have stopped.  The reality is that others need to be the “rounders” that learn, teach and care.

Marvin

References:

Gonzalo JD.  Masters PA.  Simons RJ.  Chuang CH.  Attending rounds and bedside case presentations: medical student and medicine resident experiences and attitudes.  Teaching & Learning in Medicine.  21(2):105-10, 2009 Apr-Jun.

Tariq M.  Motiwala A.  Ali SU.  Riaz M.  Awan S.  Akhter J.  The learners' perspective on internal medicine ward rounds: a cross-sectional study.

BMC Medical Education.  10:53, 2010.

Hage, M. L. (2012). Vocation & Retirement. Retrieved from http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2012/07/vocation-retirement.html

Resistance/Resilience

Photo in the Constantine Basilica, Trier, Germany, 2013

“The Church is only the Church when it exists for others”, Dietrich Bonhoeffer

André Heintz (left) at Le Mémorial de Caen, 2013

I just returned from a wonderful return trip to Europe.  One theme that recurred was the role of the resistance/resilience prior to and during World War II.  We saw and heard again the courage and the resilience of individuals.

There have and are continued “wars” waged on suffering in the world.  Like other conflicts there is a real concern about whether or not these are “just wars” with their associated costs.  Do we see these responses as individual or community efforts?  Do we need to rethink our priorities and the model of our activities?

“Resistance/Resilience” maybe that new model of our healing vocations. Resistance/Resilience can be a clearer way of understanding our healing activities than our usual “war” rhetoric.  We do possess some tools to “resist” the suffering around us, but healing frequently occurs in quiet and "covert" ways from that inner strength of both resistance and resilience. This is where the healing church is at its best as a source of resistance and as a place to learn resilience! It is where people live out the gift of salvation in a suffering world. 

Marvin

References

Fournier, G., & Heintz, A. (2006). If I Must Die.: From “Postmaster” to “Aquatint” (Des Souvenirs Et Des Hommes): From “Postmaster” to “Aquatint” (illustrated edition ed.). OREP.

Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/85/a2524385.shtml

Shirey MR.  How resilient are your team members?  Journal of Nursing Administration.  42(12):551-3, 2012 Dec.

Hu YY.  Arriaga AF.  Roth EM.  Peyre SE.  Corso KA.  Swanson RS.  Osteen RT.  Schmitt P.  Bader AM.  Zinner MJ. Greenberg CC. Protecting patients from an unsafe system: the etiology and recovery of intraoperative deviations in care. Annals of Surgery.  256(2):203-10, 2012 Aug.

Hage, M. L. (2012). “Standing Firm” and Pilgrimages. Retrieved from http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2012/03/standing-firm-and-pilgrimages.html