A couple entries from my journal (in part):Tuesday, I was tired of standing, having been in the OR all morning. I just needed to get home and kick my legs up now that 1 PM had rolled around and I was due for an hour's lunch. So, naturally, I headed back to our place.
The thing is, while I was walking up the little hill to our place, a pickup truck, full of people in the back had collided head on with an even bigger pickup truck, also full of people out side of our hospital gate. I guess pretty much everyone whose trajectory wasn't obstructed by a pesky windshield was tossed clean out of the vehicles. So, I put down my delicious bowl of home made chicken soup (which April makes very well, if I do say so myself) and moseyed begrudgingly down to the outpatient department. Looking around myself at one point while running this quasi mass trauma, I counted 16 patients sitting on the benches in various states of disrepair, some bleeding quite a bit. I think there were at least 2 in the private booths, and 2 that had been admitted. Of note, we had a kid with a cobra bite, who, on his way home was thrown into the windshield, we had a questionable c spine fracture, a pelvic fracture, and an number of cuts and scratches on various people involved. For a chaotic mass trauma situation, things went well. John, April, Shea, and Kwenza were all there, too. We took care of buisniess quickly as a team, all considered.
That night, we drove into the bush and met with one of our friends Ms. Kadere, at her musha (musha=rural village). she welcomed us in very warmly. Having been widowed in 2002, Ms. Kadere is a fine example of discipline and hard work. Upon the death of her husband, her inlaws came and took all her land, which is (i guess) a relatively common scenario here. Though much hard work, she has bult up a five room square frame house, a large thatched round store house and raised several children. I was impressed with her extreme generosity, and thankful for the chance to eat at her house. Her 13 year old son gladly showed off the family stereo system, powered by a solar panel, battery, and power inverter. In the dimly lit hut, Shakira, Julio Iglesias, and Puff Daddy played loudly. The speaker's tweeters, long since blown, barked loud westernized music throughout the dinner. I felt like I was sitting in "Club Musha" at some points. Beau and Abbi had a riot dancing around and chasing the cat and dog that were running in and out of the house. After dinner, we sipped on tea. Halfway through the tea, our hostess proudly informed us that the milk in the tea was from her own goats. It really was good tea.
Today was gorgeous. The sun was shining beautifully, the eucalyptus trees dancing in the breeze, which kicked up occasional dust twisters in the barren spots in the landscape. The cool of the morning balanced perfectly with the warm sun on my face as I walked through the breezeways of the hospital. Women's ward is filling up with patients after a 2 week long slow spell. That, in combination with an early morning C section (see above), caused me to get home for "tea time" a little later than I'd had hoped for. On a less busy morning, I might be able to sneak in a quick run over tea time. Instead, April and Abbi sat with me at the gazebo, sipping guava juice while I enjoyed my coffee. The two of walked me back to the hospital after tea. It was nice sitting there with April and Abbi, just enjoying the day (and we still managed to run after work).
Here's an excerpt from the devotional I did with the nursing students this morning at chapel. It comes from 1 John.
1 John 2:1-2" 1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world."
This begs the question what is an advocate? what is a propitiation? We need to define these words to understand the text.
An advocate is someone who speaks on behalf of another person. This has a legal connotation to it, much as a lawyer would advocate for a client in front of a judge in a courtroom.
God is Just, and ultimately wrongdoing (otherwise known as sin) must be punished. If God simply dismissed sin, he would not be full of justice. Even in our courts, If a man is on trial for a crime (theft), even if he has lead a decent life overall, will a just judge simply allow the man to go free? No. A just judge must give the man the punishment that the country's law requires. A moral law of conduct- even the conduct of our hearts- exists. We have all broken this law and a price must be paid. Jesus took the punishment that should be ours. By his work on the cross, his suffering and death, he appeased the anger of God, which was directed at us, making it possible for God to both forgive us our sins and remain Just. This is the meaning of that big old fashioned word propitiation.
No comments:
Post a Comment