When Suffering Visits
One of Canada's most famous physicians was Dr. William
Osler. Many stories are told of Dr. Osler, but one of the
most revealing comes from World War I.
Friends recalled the day when he was working in one of
Britain's military hospitals during the war. He was called
out of the wards during his daily rounds to be given an
important message; his own son had been killed on the fields
of France.
Stunned by the news, he still came back to pick up his
rounds. For a long period afterward he was noticeably
different. And those who knew him best said that he changed
as a physician that day. The cheerful note was gone from his
voice and never again did friends hear the tune which he so
often whistled as he went from ward to ward.
Though these things never returned, something eventually
came to take their place. Everyone noticed a new compassion
in his care of the soldiers who each day streamed in from
the battlefield. Before, he had the professional concern of
the physician, so important to the practice of medicine; now
there was an added discernable note of a personal
compassion, like that of a father for his son....
Osler was understandably hurt and, like most people who have
experienced such losses, he likely became angry. In time,
after working through pain and anger, he found a way to
integrate the loss into his life. Though he was never the
same, he chose not to let his son's death turn him into a
bitter and resentful man. Instead, he channeled it into
energy and love for others, caring for them as he would care
for his own.
Helen Keller wisely said, "The struggle of life is one of
our greatest blessings. It makes us patient, sensitive, and
Godlike. It teaches us that although the world is full of
suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it."
Osler teaches us something about overcoming suffering. It
can leave us bitter, or quite surprisingly, it can often
leave us better. More patient. More sensitive. More
compassionate. And a little more like how God must surely
be.
Steve Goodier Life Support
http://www.LifeSupportSystem.com