From Jared’s blog…
Touch is truth. Think about it. Every time you touch someone, you are communicating something to them. You are creating an experience–affecting their reality. And we believe that Christ, being himself Truth, is not merely an icon of a belief system, or a figure of history; we believe that he is in fact touchable, that his essence is touch. Immanuel, God with us–God among us.
Greg began to retell the story of touch from Luke 8: the woman who dared to touch him. The woman who’d spent her last 12 years hiding her condition, protecting her anonymity, attempting to remain unnoticed so that she could live a semi-normal life. This woman had been hemorrhaging blood for 12 years, and none of the doctor’s could help her. As Christ is walking toward a certain man’s house, the crowd is fully pressing him, to the point that the writer of the story says that they are almost crushing him. And this one woman’s desperation leads her to tear through the crowd without regard to her condition, pushing past people, fighting to get to the center. And she does–just briefly, but she does. She gets just close enough to reach her arm through the mass of bodies, just close enough that her outstretched fingers are able to brush the thread of his clothes.
And the bleeding stopped. Immediately, her condition of 12 years vanished. Christ of course, turns and asks the inane question, ‘Who touched me?’ ‘Who interrupted my humanity without initiation or invitation, and received from my divinity?’ Of course the crowd was pressing him on all sides, and was probably as shocked by his question as his disciples were, but the question was not without warrant. ‘His question became the confirmation of her touch–the confirmation of her healing.’ Her healing was not found in her question “why”, but his question “who”. And it was in that question that Christ offers the confirmation to her, for in that moment she realized that “she could no longer go unnoticed.” He had noticed her, and brought her into view to confirm her. No longer would her condition keep her in hiding. From this moment forward, she would know that her life is to be noticed, not only by God but by people as she displays in her body the visibility of his tangibility, the confirmation of her desperation.
Thanks to Crys, I now have something to do for the next couple of nights…
Thursday November 20 is Star Counting Night: count the
stars and your blessings.
This Friday, November 21, is Moon Counting Night: this
night follows Star Counting Night. There is, of
course, only one moon to count, but the holiday is so
beloved that there is always hope that there may be
more.
OK, here it comes. Before I start, I should mention I’m thankful for a few ‘God-interventions’ this week:
1) I was taking the elevator at work one day this week (up to the ICU floor) – all alone in the elevator – when a man got on. As he selected his floor, he noticed my own selection, and probably glancing at my white lab coat, he asked if I worked in the ICU. I said yes, and he responded by saying something like ‘it takes a lot of heart to work up there’.
2) Another day this week, the -70 degree freezer in which I was storing 300+ samples for my major research project for this residency began alarming. I was a tad stressed with other things, so it was a panicky hour while I searched the hospital for another department with freezer space I could beg/borrow. It turned out our freezer was fine. The samples are ok. I could have used a few more deep breaths.
Now on the other side of things …
I need to figure out the rest of my life pretty soon. I have the opportunity to sign a contract to stay here for a year once I’m done – which means extra money. I am not sure if I want to stay here or go back to home (or somewhere in betweeen). Then there’s also that missions stuff I had postponed for this year.
I’ve really been trying to look for God in the everyday stuff. If I see Him in the small stuff, it might be easier for me to see Him in the big stuff too. I just thought it would get easier at some point.
I have begun my own tradition. A few years ago, in high school, I was able to play in the Saskatchewan Honour Band. Our conductor was Gerald King from U Vic. He had had their Wind Symphony perform a piece some time earlier, and had us learn and perform the same song: Symphony No. 1 for Winds and Percussion: In Memoriam, Dresden, Germany, 1945 — Daniel Bukvich. The song is truly a graphic portrayal of the fire bombing in Germany – and the impact on civilians.
In history, I have seen how God has used war to accomplish His will. I have also seen how humans use it to accomplish their will. My God is a god who calls us to peace, to love. To love all, including our enemies. To hate none – for hating is murder in our soul. We are called to live by a high standard – and so often I fail miserably.
I wish not only to remember the impact of war, but also the impact of my own hatred. It is my call to love, as I have been loved.
I finished my rotation in internal medicine. I said good bye to the med students and residents. I had a good lunch. I did the end of rotation evaluation with my preceptor. He said I was smart. That’s probably what I’ll remember from that conversation for a long time. I don’t know why it mattered so much, but it did.
I went home. I didn’t get home though. I got halfway home when I realized I had forgotten to put a dose recommendation in a patient’s chart. I’d even told the attending physician I would get back to him on it. So I hopped a few buses (in a rather creative manner) and found my way back to the hospital. I wrote the note. I said goodnight to the nurses. I began home — again.
I got home and made an amazing beef stirfry. I ate half of it. The recipe will be at the end. I then continued working on an afghan. I’m making afghans for the other two pharmacy residents. I’m about 1/6 done one of them right now.
For supper today I had grilled cheese and Campbell’s tomato-vegetable soup. Mmmmm, sodium. Probably some trans fats too. Somehow I’m not dead yet.
Only 41 days and I’m coming home.
Sesame Beef
8 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp canola oil (or omit sesame oil and use 3 tbsp canola oil in total)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 green onions, chopped (or ‘regular’ onion, or onion powder/salt)
1 lb beef strips (although you could use chicken or turkey or pork too)
any number of the following vegetables: mushrooms, beans, carrots, celery, broccoli, peppers, cauliflower, etc
1) Mix sauce (up to onions) – add beef – marinate (if you don’t have time to marinate – don’t worry about it)
2) Cook in wok/frying pan until beef is cooked.
3) Add vegetables. Add cruchier ones (e.g. carrots) first, and softer ones (e.g. mushrooms) last.
4) Eat.
