Interesting title huh? Whatever could Robinson be talking about now? Well, it's sort of about death, but it's more about how to cope, survive, move on and live.
My wife has recently started watching Grey's Anatomy, airing on Sunday nights. I watch it with her because it has some good writing and she watches so many of my favorite shows. It's really not too bad of a show. I mean, it's 'ER' and 'Desperate Housewives' and it has no Jack Bauer, but I find it entertaining. It is a bit predictable because it's struggling professionals who all want to sleep with each other. Big reach for Hollywood, I know. Side note: How come all these characters in all these shows never figure out that sleeping with someone after one date, never ends well? They always seem so 'heart broken' about the outcome. Anyhoo....
Sunday's show (May 7th) was good and it really got me to thinking about something. The title of the episode was 'Damage Case'. I'll spare you a run down of who's who, but the part of the show that made me pause it and talk to my wife about it was this:
A family (mom, dad, daughter, son-in-law) were all brought in to the emergency room after being hit by a driver that had fallen asleep. Everyone seemed to be in pretty good shape until some major complications developed with the daughter, who was pregnant. She had come in chatting away with her husband, father, mother, etc. but once they started running tests on her they discovered that because her adrenaline had worn off, she was seen to be suffering from catastrophic internal injuries. Every surgeon was called in and they were going to group operate on her.
One doctor worked on her heart, another on her stomach and internal organs, another monitored the baby, the head of surgery for the hospital was also present. The head surgeon said this when they were all frantically working on the girl: "Once she enters the triangle, we all back away.... do we agree?" The triangle turned out to be 'the triangle of death'. Essentially they were going to be putting her battered body through so much, that if they went too far she was assured of death. Once the signs were seen, they were to back away, cover her up (not sew her up) and give her body a chance to work its own healing. The moment occurred when the head of surgery told everyone to back away and though some hesitated, they all did and she was wheeled out of the room.
It was explained to her parents why they were doing this. Her body was so broken that multiple surgeries were taking place at once... she couldn't handle that for long. They were looking at a fine line of waiting too long to go back in and going back in too soon. It was risky and her chances were not very good. With all those people working on her, one of the best solutions for her was to just leave her alone and see what the body itself would do.
I was fascinated by this and it got me to thinking. I think we are all wounded in some way. Some of us have emotional wounds, some physical wounds. Some of us are dying spiritually and some of us are watching marriages struggle. We have issues from the past and heartaches from the present. We seem to always be needed some sort of 'personal surgery' to fix what's wrong with us. Most of us are like the pregnant girl and we are feeling the need to have multiple things worked on at once. But here's my thought:
God created ever aspect of our beings. He is in control, if we let Him, of all that happens to us. It is said that our physical bodies are amazing at what they can recover and heal from on their own. What about our souls or spirits if you like? I tend to think they have that same power to heal. I think we are trying to fix too much stuff at one time and we are entering the 'triangle of death'. We have so many hands and voices on our problems that we aren't allowing God to do what He can do. Have you ever been so out of sorts that you have screamed, 'GOD! Where are you?! Why aren't You helping me?! I sure have. But what if God is simply taking a step back, because if He does too much with too many of your problems, you won't handle it and it would kill you? What if He is allowing your mind, body and spirit the chance to relax and heal?
Recently I've been trying to fix everything about me. That's a lot of stuff. Spiritually I'm not where I should be. Financially, I'm off stride. Physically I am one order of bacon away from being 'large'. Mentally, well.... anyway. I have been reading more books than ever. I've read all of Donald Miller's books, CS Lewis' stuff, 'Wild at Heart' by John Eldrige and so on. I get together with my friends and we talk about what failures we are as husbands, men, fathers... it's great fun.
I think I've reached the point where I feel like the more I try to fix in myself, my world, my friends and so forth, the closer to death I'm getting. Maybe God is telling me that it's time to relax and rest and let Him do what He does so well... Heal.
We all have issues that need to be dealt with. But I think we often get too many things going at once and feel the need to fix all of them RIGHT NOW. You've heard the sayings, 'too many chefs in the kitchen', 'too many irons on the fire', 'too many Duke fans in Kansas', ok, I made that one up. But you get the point. We are so busy trying to fix so much in ourselves and in others that all we are doing is pushing things closer to the 'triangle of death'. It's time to rest.
What if I can't fix my spiritual issues tomorrow or my physical issues, or my financial issues, my 'ministry or railroad' issues, my 'politicians are scum' issues, etc. Maybe it's ok. Maybe my head of Surgery, God, is saying, 'Let him rest. I'll monitor him and I'll know when to open him back up.' They don't call him
'The Great Physician' for nothing you know. ;-) Maybe there's a church out there that wants a passionate pastor that curses a bit. Maybe I'll give my wife a great gift and just being content with where I am. Maybe I'll get smarter with my money. Maybe I'll start helping my friends grow instead of helping them stay where they are. Who knows.... but for now, I need to rest and let myself heal a bit. All together now... BREATHE!!!!
By the way, the girl died, but her baby lived.
That's why I love '24', everyone dies.... Except for Jack Bauer.
