Better Bedside Manners/In the Cleft of the Rock
Posted by: ba <ba@...>
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Straight to the Cross
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COLUMN: Thankful
Better Bedside Manners
by A. A. Neale
Medical students in the U.S. must now take another
test to get their licence to practice medicine.
The National Board of Medical Examiners is giving
the would-be doctors six chances to prove they
have good bedside manners. The students are
negotiating for ten. (Just kidding!)
As a professional class, doctors are lousy
listeners. Maybe they're just reflecting the
general population, but when I spill my litany of
bodily ills, I want a doctor to be all ears.
I hail this move by the national board because too
many doctors act like they are God and already
know what you're problem is. They're all too ready
to whack out a piece of your anatomy or write you
off a prescription where they have stock in the
company.
Speaking of which, my next recommendation is to
give doctors penmanship classes and require they
write so that an 8-year-old can read it.
Preferably in block letters.
But back to the bedside manners. Here's what I
would like to hear a doctor say once in my life:
* "I don't know what you have."
* "I would recommend you get a second opinion."
* "I'll see you next Thursday promptly at 10:00
a.m. Don't make me wait."
* "You look like a cover model for 'Men's Health
Magazine.'"
* "I'm going to knock 50% off your bill, because
you're such a nice person."
OK, so I can dream, can't I?
But what I do want to see is every one of God's
saints following this directive: "Let your speech
always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you
may know how to answer each one" (Colossians 4:6,
NKJV).
A doctor may find it difficult to improve his
bedside manners, but Christians work incessantly
to better their interactions with others.
* They cut out emotional static to listen intently
(James 1:19).
* They take into account where people are coming
from (1 Corinthians 9:19-22).
* They see in every person a soul saved by God's
grace and serving in the Kingdom (ibid.).
* They freely forgive those who are moving in the
direction of God (Matthew 18:21-35; Colossians
3:13).
* They develop a soft spot in their hearts for
people, and especially for their brothers and
sisters in Christ. They're "tender-hearted" to one
another (Ephesians 5:32).
* They judge actions and motives from a benevolent
perspective, thinking the best of what people do
and say (Matthew 7:1).
* They encourage and praise others whenever
possible (1 Corinthians 11:2).
Better bedside manners for doctors may be a lost
cause, but Christians are the salt of the earth
and show the love and gentleness of Christ in all
they do. And I'm thankful for that.
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COLUMN: Oliver's Twist
In the Cleft of the Rock
by Barbara Oliver
He was lost. The desert stretched before him,
endless, dry, forbidding. He wiped the dust from
his forehead. His sweat evaporated immediately,
leaving only dry salt that irritated his face.
He saw it coming. The wall of sand raced toward
him. He ran. Fear surged through him. No cover
offered protection, only a few large rock
formations sticking up from the desert floor like
giant stalagmites. The storm was gaining on him.
He felt the sand bullets striking the nape of his
neck. He sprinted toward an outcropping of stone.
His eyes stung from the whirling sand. He scoured
the rock with his hands, searching for a place to
hide from the storm that now enveloped him. He
found a small cleft, just large enough to squeeze
into. He pulled his jacket up over his head and
lay protected from the stormy blast.
How often do we feel pelleted by worry, pain,
disease, and death? How we long to find that cleft
of rock! What joy to know that we have that
protection! Fanny Crosby said it well in her song,
"A Wonderful Savior:"
"He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock that
shadows a dry, thirsty land; He hideth my life in
the depths of His love, and covers me there with
His hand."
And as God is inclined to do, he heaps the
blessings on us.
He gives us friends. We all have that one special
brother or sister in Christ to whom we can take
any problem, any hurt, any joy, and know that,
even though our words may not come out right,
he'll understand our heart's intent. If you don't
have such a friend, be one! "A man who has friends
must himself be friendly" (Proverbs 18:24, NKJV).
He gives us an earthly family. I love my church
family here in Winona. Not a large congregation,
we are only about seventy souls. They are such a
loving church, helping each other during difficult
times, enjoying each other during good times. They
are a cleft in the rock for me. I know that during
times of crisis, those brothers and sisters will
be there for me. I have no doubt!
He gives us a heavenly family. Angels watch over
us (Matthew 18:10; Luke 16:12), the Holy Spirit
intercedes for us (Romans 8:26,27), our Brother
lived and died for us and bore the separation from
God for us. We have a Father who gave his most
precious Son for us.
Surely, He hideth my soul in the cleft of the
rock, and covers me there with his hand!
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