I've made it through the first few days of lectures pretty much unscathed. It is a definite change of pace from anything I've done before though. An amazing amount of information is presented in these lectures. I know that for me, figuring out my study strategy will be huge. So far I've read the textbooks, reviewed lecture notes and made some note cards but I think I have a long way to go in figuring out how to study for medical school. My experience in the hospital and the lectures I've attended have made me reflect a bit though on the nature of man.
In the hospital I was reminded of how frail and short human life is. I was reminded that everything in my body is getting older. This heart in my chest that seems so strong will become weak and will eventually stop. From the moment you come into existence as a zygote your life is fraught with peril. From without as well as from within. Truly as James said, "You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away," is true about us in our flesh. So thinking about these things have made me ponder where my hope is. Is it in the strength of my flesh? Is it in the pleasure that can be gained from my flesh? If that is where my hope is then it is no hope at all. For those things, strength, pleasure and whatever else is connected with the flesh will shortly pass away. Some of my charismatic friends taught me to speak of "strengthening the spirit-man" within me. It only makes sense to strengthen that which is eternal. Of course I know that there will be a resurrection and our resurrection bodies will not be corrupted but this flesh is weak and quickly passing, therefore make no provision for it.
The other thought that has been running through my mind is the utter stupidity and blindness of the idea that we got here by chance. It is insanity to think such a thing. It seems to me that such a thought is a sin of great magnitude and I will confess that there was a time when I committed it. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. Praise God for it.
Amen
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II Corinthians 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
As we age and all the warranties expire (that's how middle age feels to me), we stand to come more alive in Christ.
Also, your military and hospital experiences show that the frailty of the flesh is not just about getting old - we are vulnerable and fragile all through life.
Your final observation is so wonderful. I've stopped getting angry with those who say, "Everything is random and accidental." It is so beyond intellectual debate. I just feel sorry for them - it is truly as if they were born without eyes and need our love and help all the more.
Hey Matt, I'm blogging again :) We start class next week. I am pretty excited and also need a studying strategy myself, but it's almost as if studying at all would be a difference.
I was watching House the other day and he said that faith wasn't logical, and without getting into it I realized how logical my faith really is. It makes sense to my brain that God exists, etc., all the way through orthodox Christianity. I am all about a cumulative appeal argument. Then on the show he slid right into the problem of evil, which is explained by Christian beliefs. But maybe I'm just a trusting kind of person. I think that my being like that is God's work, though.
Sounds like you're doing great. Reading this blog is like following you around with a little recorder. I guess that's the point of writing.
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