Friday, March 28, 2008
One of our own has cancer
Dr. Yang Chen of the University of Colorado has put up a website describing his journey with lung cancer. It makes for compelling reading, as he winds through faith, fear, treatment, hope, and all the other emotions that come along with being human. I recommend it to you.
Celebrate Recovery
Last night several of us listened to two remarkable people who run a local group affiliated with Celebrate Recovery. Fifteen years ago their marriage was hanging by a thread. Now they are far down the road to recovery and their story was powerful. They minister to those in bondage to alcohol, drugs, sexual issues, anger issues, shopping, anything that gets in control of people's lives.
St. Paul, in Romans, has an amazing thing to say about addictions in Chapter 7.
Pastor Rick Warren's church, Saddleback, has put this program together. It is similar to 12 step programs like AA, but explicitly puts God and Jesus in instead of a vague "Higher power." Originally it was a series of sermons from the Sermon on the Mount.
It came clear to us all that just stopping the alcohol, drugs, porn, etc is not enough. You're just a "dry drunk." There is a lot of soul work to do to recover your humanity.
One interesting statement that stuck out was Otis' remark that people who "have a lot of crises in their lives" probably have undealt-with stuff. If you are taking care of business in a healthy way, you just don't have many crises.
They also discussed an addiction cycle, starting with obsessive planning and thinking, the act itself, followed by anger and disgust that often spill over into relationships. Then there is a variable latent period, followed by a repeat of the cycle. People become helpless to stop it, and don't even get much pleasure out of the act.
Your patients might need this. Your colleagues might need this. Your family or a friend might need this. Dare I say it, even us docs might need this?
St. Paul, in Romans, has an amazing thing to say about addictions in Chapter 7.
15I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[a] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
If Paul was stuck, maybe it's OK for me, too.Pastor Rick Warren's church, Saddleback, has put this program together. It is similar to 12 step programs like AA, but explicitly puts God and Jesus in instead of a vague "Higher power." Originally it was a series of sermons from the Sermon on the Mount.
It came clear to us all that just stopping the alcohol, drugs, porn, etc is not enough. You're just a "dry drunk." There is a lot of soul work to do to recover your humanity.
One interesting statement that stuck out was Otis' remark that people who "have a lot of crises in their lives" probably have undealt-with stuff. If you are taking care of business in a healthy way, you just don't have many crises.
They also discussed an addiction cycle, starting with obsessive planning and thinking, the act itself, followed by anger and disgust that often spill over into relationships. Then there is a variable latent period, followed by a repeat of the cycle. People become helpless to stop it, and don't even get much pleasure out of the act.
Your patients might need this. Your colleagues might need this. Your family or a friend might need this. Dare I say it, even us docs might need this?
Mission Trip makes secular press
Several of us went to Juarez in February for a Pap Smear clinic. It got picked up by a monthly newsletter of the College of American Pathologists and went out to all 15,000 members. Cool!
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Tale of Two Cities
The year was 1983. DenverMedStudent, soon to be DenverDoc, had decided to do his
residency in Salt Lake City. We were still living in Durham, North
Carolina.
I turned on the TV in May and discovered that a huge snowpack had melted
suddenly, sending floodwaters down into Salt Lake City. Volunteers
showed up in droves with sandbags and built the State Street River. The
water flowed down this major street for a couple of weeks. Then, in
June, the volunteers came back and cleaned up.
"Gee, sweetheart, what kind of place are we moving to? In any normal,
red-blooded American city, there would have been flooding, riots, and
looting. In Salt Lake, they just showed up and built a river. I'll bet
there were women back a couple of blocks making sandwiches!"
Fast forward 22 years. My middle daughter was an upcoming Senior at
Tulane. My brother, the geophysicist, started calling her every few
hours five days before Katrina hit. "Hey, Kate, when are you leaving?
Come to Houston. The worst that could happen is you'll get a nice
dinner and a little road trip. Come on, get out of there."
Kate of course lingered until Sunday. She and two friends left Sunday
morning along with half the city (Thank God.) The five hour drive to
Houston turned into a 15 hour marathon.
The next morning, the levees broke.
My daughter's boyfriend stayed glued to CNN for days. He watched the
endless loop of rushing water, hysterical reports of racial violence
(most of which turned out to be false). But, New Orleans WAS a normal
red-blooded American city and there were, in fact, riots and looting.
Two cities, both flooded. (I don't pretend that the Salt Lake flood was
anything like the scale of Katrina, or course.) One city had a strong,
cohesive social structure formed by a strong, vibrant central Church.
One city had no cohesion at all. The difference in results was
incredibly dramatic.
I'm not a Mormon. I don't play one on television. But I can tell you I
saw a city with some structure, some unity. Did the Mormons of the last
century do some beastly things? Well, probably so. They had to hire
from the Human Race. Have Catholics done some beastly things? Yep.
How about Protestants? You bet. Buddhists? Probably. Moslems? Stay
tuned. As a young agnostic, I was impressed with the power the church
had, mostly for good, in Salt Lake. As an older Evangelical, I was
impressed how rapidly a city could go bad without social and religious
structure. I'm also impressed with how effective all of our Christian
churches, of all stripes, were compared to the governmental agencies in
New Orleans.
My opinion is that only Christianity has much chance of uniting us in a
desirable way. Islam has, unfortunately, a chance of uniting us as
well. Secular humanism? Not a chance.
residency in Salt Lake City. We were still living in Durham, North
Carolina.
I turned on the TV in May and discovered that a huge snowpack had melted
suddenly, sending floodwaters down into Salt Lake City. Volunteers
showed up in droves with sandbags and built the State Street River. The
water flowed down this major street for a couple of weeks. Then, in
June, the volunteers came back and cleaned up.
"Gee, sweetheart, what kind of place are we moving to? In any normal,
red-blooded American city, there would have been flooding, riots, and
looting. In Salt Lake, they just showed up and built a river. I'll bet
there were women back a couple of blocks making sandwiches!"
Fast forward 22 years. My middle daughter was an upcoming Senior at
Tulane. My brother, the geophysicist, started calling her every few
hours five days before Katrina hit. "Hey, Kate, when are you leaving?
Come to Houston. The worst that could happen is you'll get a nice
dinner and a little road trip. Come on, get out of there."
Kate of course lingered until Sunday. She and two friends left Sunday
morning along with half the city (Thank God.) The five hour drive to
Houston turned into a 15 hour marathon.
The next morning, the levees broke.
My daughter's boyfriend stayed glued to CNN for days. He watched the
endless loop of rushing water, hysterical reports of racial violence
(most of which turned out to be false). But, New Orleans WAS a normal
red-blooded American city and there were, in fact, riots and looting.
Two cities, both flooded. (I don't pretend that the Salt Lake flood was
anything like the scale of Katrina, or course.) One city had a strong,
cohesive social structure formed by a strong, vibrant central Church.
One city had no cohesion at all. The difference in results was
incredibly dramatic.
I'm not a Mormon. I don't play one on television. But I can tell you I
saw a city with some structure, some unity. Did the Mormons of the last
century do some beastly things? Well, probably so. They had to hire
from the Human Race. Have Catholics done some beastly things? Yep.
How about Protestants? You bet. Buddhists? Probably. Moslems? Stay
tuned. As a young agnostic, I was impressed with the power the church
had, mostly for good, in Salt Lake. As an older Evangelical, I was
impressed how rapidly a city could go bad without social and religious
structure. I'm also impressed with how effective all of our Christian
churches, of all stripes, were compared to the governmental agencies in
New Orleans.
My opinion is that only Christianity has much chance of uniting us in a
desirable way. Islam has, unfortunately, a chance of uniting us as
well. Secular humanism? Not a chance.
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Introduction to Sharia law
There is a missionary living in the Middle East that I met recently. He writes an interesting Blog. This article came across recently, explaining what the Sharia really means. Interesting discussion.
His Brain, Her Brain
Walt Larimore spoke Friday night and it was terrific. See below for the reference to his book, which I went out, bought, and read this weekend. It skillfully weaves his personal story, biblical references, and scientific findings into a wonderful synthesis.
For example, I found out that the woman's brain has a 40% larger Corpus Callosum than mine. There is so much right-left traffic that she can listen to as many as seven conversations simultaneously and get something out of it. (Just ask DenverDocWife: I often have trouble with ONE.)
For women, the release of oxytocin caused by relational activities gives them a feeling of tremendous well being. For men, the release of testosterone gives the same sort of feelings, but it is caused by competition and achievement.
Walt's discussion of Genesis was poetry. In Hebrew, the word used when God made Adam is similar to the word used for making pottery of clay--molding into a structure. But for woman, the word implies an intricate, delicate, valuable construction. And when God says he is making "a helper" in English translations the Hebrew word is actually closer to a "savior." Woman is man's savior, making him complete.
Also he points out how radical the thought that a man should leave his parents and cleave to his wife was in the Middle East at that time.
We had a great discussion, and at least 40 of us were there. See you next time, and be sure and get Walt's book! You can get it with the links below or on the CMDA website.
For example, I found out that the woman's brain has a 40% larger Corpus Callosum than mine. There is so much right-left traffic that she can listen to as many as seven conversations simultaneously and get something out of it. (Just ask DenverDocWife: I often have trouble with ONE.)
For women, the release of oxytocin caused by relational activities gives them a feeling of tremendous well being. For men, the release of testosterone gives the same sort of feelings, but it is caused by competition and achievement.
Walt's discussion of Genesis was poetry. In Hebrew, the word used when God made Adam is similar to the word used for making pottery of clay--molding into a structure. But for woman, the word implies an intricate, delicate, valuable construction. And when God says he is making "a helper" in English translations the Hebrew word is actually closer to a "savior." Woman is man's savior, making him complete.
Also he points out how radical the thought that a man should leave his parents and cleave to his wife was in the Middle East at that time.
We had a great discussion, and at least 40 of us were there. See you next time, and be sure and get Walt's book! You can get it with the links below or on the CMDA website.
