Greetings, Friends in Christ,
While making a suburban hospital visit the other day, I was alone in the elevator when a tall man walked in, wearing blue scrubs and a white coat.
As the doors closed, I noticed the words “Transplantation Team” embroidered on his coat.
I asked him, half in jest, “Have you transplanted any hearts today?”
As we reached our floor and the elevator door opened, he responded, “No, but I did do the first part of a living donor transplant. A mother is giving part of her liver to her child.”
As we exited the elevator together, he eagerly whipped out his phone and asked, “Would you like to see?”
And there on his screen were a series of photographs capturing the fruits of his
handiwork.
“The child will have surgery later today at Children’s in Boston to receive what she needs,” he explained, then hurried off to his next thing.
I felt awe and gratitude on several fronts: the skills of a surgeon; his obvious pride and excitement in his vocation; the sophistication of the health care system; and especially, the selflessness of a mother who, of course, would give her very flesh to ensure the life of her child.
This Sunday is the Feast of the Transfiguration. The readings reveal the visual transformation of Moses and Jesus as they engage the Holy One, to the astonishment of those around them.
But I think a larger thrust is the transformation from the inside out that we as followers of Jesus are called to. The Great Physician gives himself to heal us from the inside out, and uses available instruments to accomplish it—prayer, Scripture, worship, fellowship, service to others, the circumstances of our lives, the beauty of creation.
Where do we find ourselves in that process of healing and transformation?
Faithfully,
Nick+
