Had an MRI today,... yep, .....laid down,... I.V inserted.,.. mask,... slid in the tube,.... the works,.. takin' a look at the ol' noggin,.. makin' sure everything is stable in there (and all without Ativan). Of course, this is a great time for me to be analytical,.. or is it critical,.. of the health care system as we know it.
If your in the waiting room of a hospital radiology department, or another department for that matter, ..seems that confidentiality is non-existent. Of course, this is a key tenet of HIPPA. But all those in the waiting room this morning know each other's names, .. not by exchanging pleasantries with each other, but by having our names shouted by the receptionist, when it came time for us to register. If you listened carefully, you could find out ages as well,... just do the math when the patients birth dates was asked,.. all in the waiting area. No big deal to many, but suppose the patient, well,... just doesn't want that information known.......Too late for that,.. I think "the cat is out of the bag". The background music, if there is any, just won't compete with the volume of the receptionist pleasant and dulcet tones :-). Oh, by the way, no curtains or private areas once your actually seated and talking to the registrar in the cubicle, so better talk in hushed tones if you really want privacy. But I say, it would probably be more honest if they use mega phones,... Sorry,... getting a bit cynical.
But even the skeptic in me admits that these individual sit and toil daily in order for me to have access to technology that could save my life. We often sit in judgment of the broken system that defines health care these days, but the individuals in the system are really doing a yeoman's job at being the glue that bond us to this system. As broken as it is, it works. Slowly at times,.. cumbersome at others, and more frequently than not, its frustrating. But it saves lives. And as much as we complain, our health care system has the power to deliver services that can't be found anywhere else in the world. The registrar in the cubicle provides entry to these services. I'll have at least some clue of what my tomorrow will be, or even if I'll see tomorrow because that registrar let me through the door to some of the most advanced technology in the world. So there I was in this tube called an MRI, for 30 minutes, my anxiety lifted and,... I took a nap. An over simplification? Maybe. But I thank this broken system and the registrar who told everyone my name and age, for allowing me through the door. Most of the world can't say that.
And there's more. After we were done (me and Tonto), we walked a mile,.. not on the track,.. not at the gym on the treadmill, but in the hospital. This hospital has arrows on the floor of their corridors, that actually mark off mileage,. a pretty cool thing. You can get an MRI and walk a mile,.. or two, afterward.. They're moving toward full service, one stop shopping in health care if you ask me.
So the next time you're tempted to complain about the U.S. health care system, stop and think. You have access to a system that, simply by being born here, insures that you get your three score and ten (if you want it),.. and often, more. And if that doesn't cheer you up, next time you're in a hospital, if you can, get those endorphins moving by going for a little walk.
Welcome
Welcome to All. This blog is a discussion site, looking at our lives through our experiences, our spiritual, and, not so spiritual lens, ....what our lives look like at The Front. We are and some would argue, always have been, in interesting times. Servants, past and present have been at constant struggle with whatever the issues of the day have been. Where do we even begin to name them: poverty, hunger, education, shelter, .... and did I mention poverty? Fifty-one years ago, President Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty, a war by the way, we're still fighting. Then again, we've always been at war with poverty, and yet poverty has remained steadfast. Jesus apparently got it right: "The poor will always be with you." But Jesus was a smart man. Did he mean what we think? Does poverty always have to be with us. Let's talk about this, and whatever else, in real and truthful ways. Let's view our lives from The Front.
If you have come to help me, then you are wasting your time. If you have come because your liberation is linked to mine, then we will work together.
----(Anonymous) Australian Aborigine Activist
--mailto:--neilpitts@aol.com
----(Anonymous) Australian Aborigine Activist
--mailto:--neilpitts@aol.com
Contemplative Action
The Rite of Initiation: You are going to die
A shocking statement. Perhaps. But the Franciscan Priest, Richard Rohr,,who has studied the Rite of Initiation has said the following::
"Every initiation rite I've studied had some ritual, dramatic, or theatrical way to experience crossing the threshold from life to death in symbolic form. Some ritual of death and resurrection was the centerpiece of all male initiation. It is probably why Jesus sought out and submitted to John the Baptist's offbeat death and rebirth ritual down by the riverside, when his own temple had become more concerned with purity codes than with transformation. It is probably why Jesus kept talking to his disciples, three times in Mark's Gospel, about the necessity of this death journey, and why three times they changed the subject (8:31-10:45). It is undoubtedly why Jesus finally stopped talking about it, and just did it, not ritually but actually. Death and resurrection, the paschal mystery, is the theme of every single Eucharist no matter what the feast or season. It takes us many seasons and even years to overcome our resistance to death.
"The transformational journey of death and resurrection is the only real message. It makes you indestructible. The real life, God's life, is running through you and in you already. But allowing it to flow freely doesn't come easily. When you do, the spiritual journey really begins. Up to that moment it is just religion. Everything up to then is creating the container, but you have not yet found the contents; you are creating the wineskins, as Jesus says, but you are not yet drinking the intoxicating wine."
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