He physician had spent an unusually long time on a lab consultation with the patient. Finally the door opened and the doctor hurried down the hall to the next room. I finished some paperwork and then went to the room to close and tidy it as we neared the end of another busy day. But our patient hadn’t left; she still sat there with a stunned look on her face. As I entered, I asked if there was something more she needed from the doctor. She replied, “I’ve got it…the big one.”
Today’s big one
For so many years “the big one” has been cancer. But modern life has added another silent, lingering, even worse disease, AIDS. Not wanting to guess incorrectly, I told her truthfully that I hadn’t read her chart and asked what she meant. The reply was, “I’m HIV positive.”
I took her hands in mine and looked into dark eyes reflecting the fear and uncertainty that had now entered her life. I searched for words, words to give hope and strength, concern and compassion. We sat like that for what seemed a long time. I looked into her troubled face as she asked what she was going to do.
To start with, she had to concentrate on the drive home through rush hour traffic to an empty house. In the days and weeks to follow, as she absorbed the gravity of her situation, she must decide whom to notify about her condition. Her family and friends should be told as well as her employer and fellow employees. There would be counselors to see, insurance forms to fill out and many other details to put in order.
I’ve thought of her often in the months since she received the diagnosis. The last time we saw her in the office she had taken a leave of absence from work and was going home to see her folks in another state. She was going home to explain and to search for comfort among those she loved.
The heart of her husband
Her husband of seven years had died some ten years ago. The marriage had become difficult with the discovery of her husband’s preference for male companionship. At the age of 47 she was now having to cope with her husband’s legacy to her, the possibility of AIDS. She had been victimized by the ungodly acts of a selfish man.
And how many more are there like her? In how many offices and hospitals across the nation do people receive such news? Most brothers and sisters don’t have to deal with these possibilities on a daily basis. But the threat is ever present.
Warning our young people
The danger is especially urgent for our young people. Have we properly prepared them? Have they been deeply instructed in God’s ways? Do they know that premarital sex is sin, or that provocative clothing or worldly friends and activities can lead to involvements that can kill them? It may not be an immediate death; it could be a decade of wondering, worrying, regretting.
Have we told this to our young people? Where and how are they learning the “facts of life?” Are they learning from scripture to refuse the evil and choose the good? And are they learning why?
We have all read our Father’s words to Moses: “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them…” (Deut. 6:6-9).
We must remember that our children are “blessings” from our Father (Psa. 127:3). And we must remember that we have made solemn vows. We are to be a special treasure to our God, a people set apart to Him. In that day we hope to be His when He makes up His jewels for His special treasure store and we want our children to be with us.
We must have them with us.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One