other quotables

Paul Farmer, from Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder:

"I can't sleep. There's always somebody not getting treatment."

"But [many people] think all the world's problems can be fixed without any cost to themselves. We don't believe that. There's a lot to be said for sacrifice, remorse, even pity. It's what separates us from roaches."

"The physicians are the natural attorneys of the poor, and the social problems should largely be solved by them."

"Medical education does not exist to provide students with a way of making a living, but to ensure the health of the community."

"It is the curse of humanity that it learns to tolerate even the most horrible situations by habituation."

"The fact that any sort of religious faith was so disdained at Harvard and so important to the poor--not just in Haiti but elsewhere, too--made me even more convinced that faith must be something good."

"It should be enough to humbly serve the poor."

"That's when I feel most alive, when I'm helping people."

quotable

From Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom:
"There's this salesman and he knocks on a door. The man who answers says, 'I don't need anything today.' The next day the salesman returns. 'Stay away,' he is told. The next day the salesman is back. The man yells, 'You again! I warned you!' He gets so angry, he spits in the salesman's face. The salesman smiles, wipes the spit with a handkerchief, then looks to the sky and says, 'Must be raining.' That's what faith is. If they spit in your face, you say it must be raining. But you still come back tomorrow."


"Look. I know what I believe. It's in my soul. But I constantly tell our people: you should be convinced of the authenticity of what you have, but you must also be humble enough to say that we don't know everything. And since we don't know everything, we must accept that another person may believe something else."


"But you can touch everything and be connected to nothing."


"Some of our greatest problems in ministering to people is that they knew us back before we came to the Lord."


"Mitch, I am an awful person. The things I have done in my life, they can never be erased. I have broken every one of the Ten Commandments...The things I've done, God would be justified. God is not mocked. What you sow, you reap...You can't work your way into heaven. Anytime you try to justify yourself with works, you disqualify yourself with works. What I do here, every day, for the rest of my life, is only my way of saying, 'Lord, regardless of what eternity holds for me, let me give something back to you. I know it don't even no scorecard. But let me make something of my life before I go...And then, Lord, I'm at your mercy."


"But I realized something as I drove home that night: that I am neither better nor smarter, only luckier. And I should be ashamed of thinking I knew everything, because you can know the whole world and still feel lost in it. So many people are in pain--no matter how smart or accomplished--they cry, they yearn, they hurt. But instead of looking down on things, they look up, when is where I should have been looking, too. Because when the world quiets to the sound of your own breathing, we all want the same things: comfort, love, and a peaceful heart."


"In hell, people sat around a banquet table, full of exquisite meats and delicacies. But their arms were locked in front of them, unable to partake for eternity. 'This is terrible," the man said. 'Show me heaven.' He was taken to another room, which looked remarkably the same. Another banquet table, more meats and delicacies. The souls there also had their arms out in front of them. The difference was, they were feeding each other."


"God sings, we hum along, and there are many melodies, but it's all one song - one same, wonderful, human song."


Interesting thoughts on faith and God. This book traced the different spiritual journeys of a Rabbi nearing his death and a criminal-drug addict turned pastor and found the common thread between them and other faiths. It gives you that warm tingly feeling inside after you read it because you've discovered that world is more similar than different (which is true), but I wonder if faith can be generalized so simply. Are we really just all singing the same song but different melodies? I don't think I can agree to that statement, maybe because it sounds a bit cliche, but mainly because I know that even though we could all be believing in the same God, every other faith does not know what it is like to accept that God's love for mankind. That by accepting His love for us, we have been made right in His eyes and are able to be united with Him once again. We all believe in God and hum along to His song, but is our melody one that brings the utmost praise and glory to His name for the love He has shown?

lessons, pt 2

From the lesson of trust comes the lesson of humility. This semester, I have been very self-centered. I guess it follows with being a senior and making plans for the future. You end up thinking more about what's ahead instead of what's in front of or around you. I have slacked in many areas and forgotten many people. I have seen how big my ego can get and how fast it can be crushed. Most of the past two months has been spent thinking about what will happen in the next two to four years. And for what purpose? Definitely not to seek glory for God. It's been mainly something along the lines of: how will this benefit my career? how can I make myself more marketable as a competitor? how can I gain a great reputation and achieve goals that leave a lasting impact? Sadly, none of these questions have been answered, but for good reason. I was foolish to set out so much for myself and leave nothing for God. I kind of just tagged on the "this is for God" part at the end of every explanation to myself and others, but I really did not think about it at all. Now, that many things have already played out, I look back and realize how meaningless all that planning for myself was and how self-absorbed all of it made me. 

It's really mind-blowing to see lessons that you learned in the past and stored as "knowledge" being played out right before your eyes. I learned three years ago what it means to "glorify God" and "do His will", and I always thought,"Yea, I definitely try to do that every day." But at that time, the things I gave to God were so small in comparison to things I struggle with today. It is easy for me to say, "Praise God for all the blessings in my life," and mean it but still push Him to the background. The only way for me to break the cycle is to recenter my life around God. That sounds so simple, but what does it mean? For me, that is having a more Godly purpose for each day of my life, responding to His grace by repenting of my sin, and living with a kingdom-minded agenda. Above all else, I need to be humble enough to receive God's love and share it with those around me. 

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus." - Philippians 2:3-5

lessons

Senior year has not been easy. I don't know why I believed whoever told me that it would be because it has been probably my most challenging semester at Rice, academically, emotionally, and spiritually. There have been many firsts this semester and tough lessons to be learned. One is on the concept of trust.

So at the end of last year before going to Urbana, I had been struggling with trusting God and having joy in that. I could "trust" God but I had no joy knowing that everything was in his control. I thought after Urbana I had understood more about what that meant to trust Him, and I guess I did because by the middle of that spring semester I was ok with not following through with my lifelong dream. I didn't really know what to expect at that point in terms of post-graduation plans, but I felt a sense of peace momentarily. So going along with my happy self, trusting that God had a good plan for me, I think at some point I got things confused and instead of actually trusting God I was just avoiding the problem all along--which was that I had lost my passion and motivation for my dream. I didn't really have faith that God would bring back that passion and so I started doubting in other areas too, and that led to me doubt almost everything I did. I became so caught up in trying to do the "right" thing and getting things perfect. Because I had lost "control" of that area of my life--my future plans--I tried to replace it with other things--namely academics, which is why this semester I cared more about school than I ever have. I tried to justify myself by thinking, "Just as long as this one area is good, I still have a reason for persevering," but it fell short too, and along the way, I sacrificed time with God and time with family. I think I realized how self-centered I can become without even trying.

So back to the lesson of trust. I can't say I have learned what it means, but God has definitely used this semester as a test to see how much I actually do trust Him (which is not very much). Lord, sometimes it is painful to trust you. It is painful knowing that I can't hold onto what I want but that I must trust that what you want is greater and better. It hurts to let go of academics and career and relationships all for the sake of following you.  Please show me what it means to find the most joy and satisfaction in trusting you like your Son did when He died on the cross for us. I tried to grasp onto just one thing in this world, one thing that I have planned out so carefully from since I was in grade school, and it has almost completely escaped me. Show me how to be mindful of your ways and not mine, to put you first and myself last, to trust in you with all my heart.