If you look at life from a past perspective and a future perspective it can really help out,  I think a lot of times we don’t consider that and I mention how our ancestors didn’t have modern medicine and their average life expectancy going back a few hundred or even a couple thousand years ago they only lived to age 30 on average so they were used to seeing kids die and women die during child birth, I think that if we can go back and think about it from their perspective if you can fast forward into our modern day society they would just be amazed at all of the blessings that we have around including modern medicine…

People have a  fear of one of three things, the actual moment of death,  possible pain and suffering in the time period before they die, or they fear the unknown of the afterlife, and if you break that down and address them individually it can go a long way.

For instance, when you talk about the actual moment,  the heart stops, you pass out and that’s it, pain free.

Live, Love, and Let Go: A Doctor’s Insightful Approach to Living and Dying.

“… for most people who have gone through pain and suffering in their life, It’s just as great or more than what a lot of people have before they die, an example of that would be major trauma, kidney stones, gallstones, neck pain, back pain even child birth is gonna be tougher on people than the actual pain and suffering that most people have before they die”.

 

Philosophy…the search for knowledge, the science of answering life’s great questions. One of those great questions is, ‘Does God exist?’

So what percentage of philosophers don’t believe in God? Any guesses?

Well, actually there was a study in 2013 where philosophy professors around the world were surveyed about their belief in God. The answer is that a staggering 80% don’t believe in God, including 70% who are atheist and about another 10% who are agnostic.¹

It’s been several weeks since my last blog and I’ve been trying to figure out why so many philosophers (and to a lesser extent, many throughout academia) are nonbelievers. I’m sure there are a variety of reasons, but based on what I’ve found, I am confident that the reason for many is a lack of scientific proof.

It seems that the logic for many philosophers is that we can’t prove that there is a God. Moreover, the concept of God is so incredible that it is easier for them to argue that there is no God; they deduce that the things we attribute to God will be ideas that people can explain in the future when new scientific discoveries occur. In other words, we don’t have God, but we do have ignorance. (Personally, I choose God over ignorance).

Going hand-in-hand with a lack of belief in God is a lack of belief in the soul. You have to have a soul to have a God, and vice-versa. To have a soul above and beyond the physical body substantiates that there is indeed a higher power in the physical world. That higher power is the spiritual world, the world of God.

I’d like to relay some great news: YOU HAVE A SOUL!

Why is this news at all? Well, I will bet no one has ever told you that before. It has probably been frequently assumed or implied in conversation, but no one has ever told you: “you have a soul”.

As we grow up, we learn the various body parts: eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Parents and kindergarten teachers will help us identify our feet, knees, elbows, head, and left and right hands. In school, we are told that we have a heart, lungs, bones and muscles. Biology class will instruct us that, we as mammals, have a liver, kidneys, a gut and reproductive organs. And, of course they tell us the obvious: that we have hair – some more than others. We will even learn the parts of a cell and how it works, but they never mentioned that you have a soul.

As of the time of this writing, I have never been told that I have a soul. I have heard priests and ministers and others talk about saving my soul, but I have never been told what it is or that I even have one to save. I have been around enough to believe that most everyone else is in the same boat – they have never been told.

I went through kindergarten, six years of elementary school, two years of junior high, four years of high school, four years of college, four years of medical school and three years of internal medicine residency without being told about the soul. In medical school, I learned reams of information beyond belief and never is the soul mentioned. In anatomy, we dissected a cadaver and were forced to learn every body part except the soul. We even learned that the silly thing that dangles in the back of your mouth is called a uvula and the funny spot between your eyebrows is called the glabella. There is not much use in knowing what a glabella is, but we learned it and neglected the soul. We even debated: ‘do people with unibrows even have a glabella?’, but still we did not talk about the soul.

Since being out in private practice for twenty-four years, I have read medical information almost daily. I have lost count of the continuing medical education courses that I have attended, and never is the soul mentioned.

Decades of attending church on Sundays has taught me about the value of a saved soul. However, church sermons never told me that I actually have a soul or even elaborated what it is. Actually, they usually do not even mention the word “soul”, but instead talk about saving yourself.

I have read the Bible cover to cover. At first thought, I could not recall ever even seeing the word “soul” in the Bible, let alone telling me that I have one. I have gone back and found the word “soul” in the Bible. Nevertheless, there is so much else in the Bible that I would say that the concept of having a soul is not of major emphasis.

 

Why do you need to be told that you have a soul?

 

Well, if you have never been told that you have a soul, then how will you know that you really have one? If the fact that you have a soul has always just been implied or assumed, then how can you ever really be sure that you have one? We as humans tend to believe things that we are actually told are true. We also tend to have doubts about things that are just hinted about.

Philosophers doubt that we have a soul. But does that make sense? We’ll explore that next time.

1. Bourget, David and Chalmers, David J., ‘What Do Philosophers Believe?’, Philpapers, November 30, 2013.

Wow! I was stunned. How easy it is for us to let ideas play in our heads; what may make sense at the time can eventually lead to our own detriment.

Case in point: My brother-in-law has been worked up for over the last year about Donald Trump running for president. He’s been maybe even more worked up since Trump was elected. Needless to say, he wasn’t thrilled when he found out his parents voted for Trump. In fact, he was so upset that he didn’t invite them for their customary Thanksgiving dinner gathering (despite living in the same city). Wow!

My point here today is not to discuss the pros or cons of Donald Trump’s presidency, but rather to try and promote a healthier attitude and perspective regardless of where you are on the political spectrum, including those in the far center.

Let’s examine the topic of healthcare for instance, and Obamacare to be more specific. Obama and his supporters generally see Obamacare as a really good thing. Trump and his supporters usually see Obamacare as a flawed program that they will replace.

Both sides need to calm down, as I believe they’re both right in principal and they’re both wrong in practice. The goal of Obamacare was good: achieving affordable healthcare for all. Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened as there are still plenty of uninsured people, health costs have gone up, and businesses have been hurt.

Trump states he will replace Obamacare with a better system. I wish him the best with that but I’m skeptical. This is because I don’t hear Trump or any of the republicans proposing what I see as key to fixing the problem.

Since it’s my blog, I will weigh in on the subject, especially since it’s not like you can stop me anyway. The two key components to having affordable healthcare for all are:

1. Eliminate medical lawsuits. This means doctors, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, or any medical provider cannot be sued. Patient safety would still be intact as government agencies (such as the medical board, FDA, etc.) can shut down bad doctors or medications much quicker than any lawyer. Lawsuits drive up costs for us all.
2. Eliminate the disconnect between payer and receiver. Currently, the payer is either Medicare/Medicaid or the insurance company. The receiver is the patient; we, as patients, generally don’t have much incentive for the system to be cost conscience as long as we receive what we perceive as the best care. We need to have more ‘skin in the game’ for when tests or treatments are ordered. Much less would be spent this way and the basic cost of the insurance would go down significantly.
3. The above two points would greatly reduce healthcare costs to society, and the savings could be used to subsidize the poor.

 

So which of us (Obama, Trump, or Abshire) has the best plan? I think you know my bias. However, none of these plans are perfect (even mine), as we live in a less than perfect world, no matter who is president. That’s why it’s important to maintain a healthy attitude and perspective.

The perspective I encourage you to apply is that of our ancestors. Consider your ancestors prior to modern medicine. Basically, there really was no medical care back then, at least by modern medical standards. From our ancestors’ perspective, any medical care that we currently receive would be a blessing, if not a miracle.

Instead of complaining about our current medical care, or lack thereof, we should just take the attitude of being thankful, and grateful for anything we receive. It is far healthier to consider our medical care to be a gift, rather than getting angry about what we think we ‘deserve’. This attitude of gratitude will allow us to enjoy our next Thanksgiving dinner with each other. Can’t wait for the pumpkin pie.

They don’t make kids like they used to. Well, actually most of the times they do still make kids like they used to, but with science and technology advances they sometimes make kids in different ways that aren’t as fun.

What I really mean is they don’t teach and raise kids like they used to. Oh, there have been some great advantages to modern society. For instance, kids growing up are taught to try and end racism. There have been great technological advances. People are living longer due to both advances in lifestyle as well as modern medicine. Poverty still exists, but keep in mind that poverty is a relative term. Poor people in this country would be considered well off compared to people in many other countries and also compared to our ancestors.

Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, we have become very coddled by living in this great country. This is certainly exemplified by the recent election and reaction to it:

• Professors giving students a day off so they can go vote. In past decades, people were expected to be self-reliant and figure out how to make time to get there on their own.
• Temper tantrums after Trump won-
• A man in Chicago was beaten for voting for Trump. Talk about adding insult to injury…it’s bad enough that the choices were so poor that he was reduced to have to vote for Trump, but then to get beaten up on top of that?
• A mother punishes her young son and kicks him out of the house for voting for Trump in a mock school election. (The video of this on YouTube makes me sick to watch the mother’s cruelty to her own son)
• People protesting and rioting in the street…as if stopping traffic and destroying other people’s property is going to help.
• Hillary supporters falling on the floor and crying on election night (didn’t they ever learn to lose out on the sports field?)
• Coddling-
• Cornell University had a cry-in with staff passing out tissues and hot chocolate ( I trust they got marshmallows with that)
• Professors at Northwestern University postponed exams and cancelled classes
• University of Kansas students were offered therapy dogs-ones that don’t bite I assume
• Multiple universities offered coloring activities (i.e. coloring books and paper). College students?…you’ve got to be kidding
• University of Michigan students were given play-doh. (They should have given them rubber balls so they could learn the concept of bouncing back!)

 

Now don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against hot chocolate, dogs, coloring, and play-doh. I can also certainly see how people would not be happy with results of the election. Personally, I was not happy with the prospects before the election and continue to have concerns over the country’s future. However, a little perspective will help us to cope not only with the election, but with other life problems as well.

Let me offer 3 perspectives that should help to ease your mind if you are concerned about a Trump presidency:

1. Political reality perspective…Trump was elected president, not king. There are 3 branches of government, so his power is limited. There are a couple of million federal employees, probably at least half of which are Democrats which also limits his power. Policies that he puts forth could be reversed by the next president. If you are a big Trump supporter, this perspective will tend to take the wind out of your sails.
2. Historical perspective…consider historical countries/civilizations such as Hitler’s Germany, Stalin’s Russia, the Roman empire, multiple countries in Africa and Asia that have oppressed their citizens. To think that Trump’s America would be even close to being that bad is just ludicrous. No, instead of dreading our future, we need to be grateful that we are where we are.
3. The ‘Big Picture’ or eternal perspective…this picture relies on God’s saving grace. Imagine being in heaven 50, 100, 200 years from now. Whatever problem you have or see today becomes trivial from this perspective. I remind myself of this whenever my day seems to be going south.

So cheer up America, things aren’t so bad. Find a positive perspective and be grateful for it. We’ll all be better off.

 

 

Eternity is a really, really long time. (Trust me, I’m a doctor.)

When I was in elementary school, it seemed like it took forever to get through the school year. The winter months after Christmas break were particularly tough to get through. To a little kid, some of those months seemed like an eternity, especially when we had to do gymnastics. (I don’t care what the coaches said; I’m still convinced that the human body wasn’t made to fly through the air upside down and backwards). Every day I went to school thinking I would break my neck and be paralyzed. Those were dark days to a little kid and they seemed eternal. (Who’d have known that 40 years later my childhood fears would come true when I was in a propane fire, went tumbling through the air, and knocked a disc out in my neck which caused nerve damage requiring bone graft and disc fusion surgery?… I wish I could go back and tell the coach that I was right.)

When times are bad, we often have a tendency to:

• Think things can’t get any worse
• Focus on our present turmoil
• Feel like the hardships are taking an eternity to get through

I encourage you to seek a different perspective that can help turn your attitude towards the positive. Consider an eternal perspective: Ask yourself if any of your current hardships will matter 100 years or even 1000 years from now. By the grace of God, 100 years from now we’ll be in heaven with our friends and loved ones, and all of our current concerns will be inconsequential. In heaven, love and joy will be everywhere and forgiveness will be rampant. If it was otherwise, they wouldn’t call it heaven.

Another way to look at life is similar to a Galton board (or bean machine). In a Galton board, balls fall from top to bottom, hitting pegs along the way. Some of the balls fall almost straight down. Others hit lots of pegs, and they wind up falling far to the side. Lots of the balls will fall almost straight down, while others will encounter lots of obstacles and take the long road.

All of us will have some stressful times in our lives, whether that is medical, financial, personal, or legal problems. Some of us may go through life like the balls on the Galton board that pass through with less obstacles and in fairly straightforward fashion. Others will encounter more stress, more obstacles that bump them off their desired path, similar to the balls that bounce to the sides of the Galton board. These are people who might say ‘If it wasn’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.’ Either way, all of the balls eventually wind up in the same collection bucket at the bottom of the board, regardless of whether they’ve taken the hard or easy path.

In a similar manner, from an eternal perspective, we all wind up in the same place through Christ’s saving grace. Years from now, the path we take (our stressful/hard times), become irrelevant. I encourage you to use this eternal perspective to comfort yourself and reduce anxieties during stressful periods.

When I was in medical school, students would naturally be concerned about the grade we got on tests.

Keep in mind that students in medical school are used to getting straight ‘A’s and destroying the grading curve for everyone else. Naturally, medical students would feel devastated when they got a ‘C’. Faculty would reassure us with the long term (i.e. eternal) perspective:

Faculty: ‘What do you call the medical student who graduates last in his class?’

Student: ‘What?’

Faculty: ‘Doctor’

Yes, the eternal perspective is reassuring. (By the way, if you are one of my patients, don’t worry, I did pretty well…I wasn’t last.)

Remember the eternal perspective and be thankful; after all, it’s a gift from God.

Till next time, may God bless you.