Author's posts
May the needs of others become personal to you
The hands were heavily stained black, the skin with severe eczematous changes, yet she did not mention them. She was a young mother who had come to the clinic to have her six-month-old baby boy seen by the “doctors from America.” I was the …
You are a servant with a servant heart
As I was preparing for my next medical mission, I began to think about the word “minister.” Obviously from a religious standpoint, it has certain connotations, one of which is “to serve”. When you are ministering to someone̵…
I am tired of the racism that remains embedded in our culture
A 2012 letter to Mr. Leonard Pitts, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. I am not sure why I feel so compelled to write you. You probably will not even see this email, but I still must do so. I am a 56-year-old Christian white male physician living in …
Are you willing to shed tears for your patients?
During my 30 years in medicine, and especially as I began leading medical missions in 2005 to the poorest countries in the world, I have seen much need, tragedy, and heartbreak. It is overwhelming. Despite our best efforts medically to help, we fail. W…
Change is critical to fulfilling our calling
July 2, 1973, is a day etched forever in my mind. A day I remember as if it happened yesterday even though 47 years have passed. A day I thought would never come and then, when it did, would never end. It was the day I entered West Point as a 17-year-o…
Loneliness and hopelessness are all around us, yet we are missing it
It was dark as we entered a crumbling stone building, a one-room 15’ x 15’ structure. No electricity, no running water, no amenities, we assume “we all have.” I was leading a medical team to the poorest country in Europe, Moldova, a country I had come …
Savoring the last time and enjoying the moment
The old man sat at the front of the drift boat as it swayed gently, anchored at the river’s edge. The guide sat behind him, making final preparations for the day’s float downriver. The man had fly fished for nearly 40 years; he even tied hi…
One day we will face our own mortality, and need someone to listen to our stories
I am sitting in a hospital room in Birmingham, Alabama. My 87-year-old father lies in a bed, frail, thin, and weak. This once physically strong and imposing man is a shell of who he was, of who he will always be in my mind – a larger-than-life Ra…
Surviving the first 100 yards: How do you do it? Why do you do it?
You are 19 years old, standing in the mud and mire that are the trenches of World War I. You are cold, hungry, filthy, emotionally, mentally, and physically exhausted. You stare straight ahead, eyes vacant, not revealing deep inside you a visceral fear…
May each of you find your own sunrise and sunset
When I turned 60, it was a weird feeling, something I had not experienced with previous birthdays. I remember thinking, “SIXTY! Am I really 60?” Where did the time go? Looking back, I realize how much of it I had “wished away.” We all can fall into th…
