A doctor’s faith in the world of #covid19:
Easter is tough for me.
I was raised in Christianity, but I never believed in the resurrection.
The idea that there was one magical human in all of history who raised himself from the dead just didn’t pass muster.
Stay with me…
1/
Easter is tough for me.
I was raised in Christianity, but I never believed in the resurrection.
The idea that there was one magical human in all of history who raised himself from the dead just didn’t pass muster.
Stay with me…
1/
I knew I believed in something, but a religion that discouraged my questions and demanded that I find comfort in the absolutes posed in a book that had been both written as allegory and politically edited throughout history just made me feel lonely.
And resentful.
And angry.
2/
And resentful.
And angry.
2/
Then I went through med school and residency, and the barrage of pain, hopelessness, and death that sat at the center of my training hit my faith even harder. Where was this benevolent unseen force of good, comfort, and love?
3/
3/
I found myself sitting at bedsides while pts were dying, hoping more than anything that they didn’t believe in the pearly gates.
How could you go peacefully if you knew the next stop was judgment on your entire life’s choices?
That your human flaws could be your damnation?
4/
How could you go peacefully if you knew the next stop was judgment on your entire life’s choices?
That your human flaws could be your damnation?
4/
But in the last few years, something changed.
I started noticing magic in more and more of the ordinary moments I’d see each day.
And in these days of illness, anger, isolation, and death, I’m seeing it more than ever.
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I started noticing magic in more and more of the ordinary moments I’d see each day.
And in these days of illness, anger, isolation, and death, I’m seeing it more than ever.
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It’s in our commitments to maintaining community with intention.
It’s in our despair in feeling that no matter how much we help others, we could be doing even more.
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It’s in our despair in feeling that no matter how much we help others, we could be doing even more.
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It’s in our health care workers who keep showing up, not because we want thanks, but because it’s an imperative for us to give of our hearts, minds and skills in service of saving a life.
Any and every life.
Every day.
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Any and every life.
Every day.
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In short, it’s in the way we love each other.
I’ve been thinking a lot more lately that the magic of the unseen that we can’t help but create might just be the divine I’ve been seeking.
Maybe we are creating heaven right here, every day.
Suddenly I don’t feel so lonely.
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I’ve been thinking a lot more lately that the magic of the unseen that we can’t help but create might just be the divine I’ve been seeking.
Maybe we are creating heaven right here, every day.
Suddenly I don’t feel so lonely.
8/
So, Happy Easter if you celebrate.
And if you don’t, Happy Every Day.
You’re building the divine with every loving brick you lay that stands unseen and unspoken.
And if you don’t, Happy Every Day.
You’re building the divine with every loving brick you lay that stands unseen and unspoken.
