I came across this touching story on the internet:
A doctor entered the hospital in a hurry after being called for urgent surgery. He immediately changed his clothes and went directly to the surgery block. He found the boy’s father going and coming into the hall waiting for the doctor. Once seeing him, the dad yelled: “Why did you take all this time to come? Don’t you know that my son’s life is in danger? Don’t you have the sense of responsibility?”
The doctor smiled and said: “I am sorry, I wasn’t in the hospital and I came the fastest I could after receiving the call. Now, I wish you’d calm down so that I can do my work.”
“Calm down? What if your son was in this room right now, would you calm down? If your son dies now, what will you do?” said the father angrily.
The doctor smiled again and replied: “I will say what Job said in the Bible, ‘From dust, we came and to dust we return, blessed be the name of God’. Doctors cannot prolong lives. Go and intercede for your son, we do our best by God’s grace.”
“Giving advice when we’re not concerned is so easy,” the father murmured.
The surgery took some hours, after which the doctor went out happy and exclaimed, “Thank God! Your son is saved!” without waiting for the father’s reply, he carried on his way running, “If you have any questions, ask the nurse!”
“Why is he so arrogant? He couldn’t even wait some minutes so that I could ask about my son’s state,” commented the father when seeing the nurse after the doctor left.
The nurse answered, tears coming down her face: “His son died yesterday in a road accident, he was in the burial when we called him for your son’s surgery. And now that he saved your son’s life, he left running to finish his son’s burial.” END OF THE STORY.
What insightful lesson/s can we learn from the story?
One, I think, is NEVER TO JUDGE ANYONE. Because we never know how life is, what’s happening, or what’s going through with the one we’re judging.
Two, I cannot avoid being impressed by the doctor’s calm disposition and lofty demonstration of commitment to his calling as a medical practitioner. Despite the tragic death of his son, the doctor did not waver in his sworn duty to attend to the surgical emergency at the hospital.
Verily for me, although gargantuan or humongous our tragedies and challenges, DO NOT (and should not) DIMINISH OUR NOBLE CALLING OR DUTY.
Tragedies and challenges can even teach us to care for others. While we are wont to ask “Why me?” in the middle of our tragedies (like what happened to the doctor in our story), such a reflexive soul-searching can lead us to think, empathize, and care for others who are similarly situated.
Yes, while pain and struggles are part and parcel of life, they too are opportunities for growth – and the BEST THING WE CAN GAIN FROM CHALLENGES IS NOT THE THING WE WANT, BUT THE “PERSON” WE BECOME IN THE PROCESS.
Have peace, NEVER JUDGE ANYONE, AND TRAGEDIES AND CHALLENGES DO NOT IN ANY WAY DIMINISH WHO WE ARE!
Be grateful, be inspired, be blessed!
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