Medical school is over

Medical school is over and one could say that I have been taught everything I ever need to know about the medicine and the human body... well, not exactly. However, I know I have learned some important lessons in medical school that have increased my faith over these four years, which I would like to share with my brethren.

To begin, God created life. As simple as this statement sounds, I have thought more about this in these past four years than the rest of my entire life. From being in the anatomy laboratory seeing the human body in astonishing detail to the operating room with my hands wrapped around a beating heart I have been constantly amazed at God's creation. Genesis records that "God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them". It is remarkable to me how perfect God was in his creation. Let me give you a simple example. I bet most of you know the heart beats by itself by a collection of pacemaker cells. But, did you know that if these cells fail, there is a back up pacemaker system in the heart. And if this second system fails, there is a third, and even a fourth pacemaker in the heart. Extraordinary! There are many other amazing facts about the human body that speak toward a creator including the genetic DNA language that is encoded in every cell, the fact that your entire skin replicates itself every single month, or an immune system that defends the body throughout life even during a baby's life in the womb.

Second, sin destroys lives. As much as I would love to say medicine is all fun and games, this is usually not the case. In fact, besides annual checkups, when have you ever gone to the doctor unless things aren't so great? I cannot tell you how many patients I saw who had given their lives over to alcohol, drugs, sexual perversion, or other sins. Yes, obeying God does not guarantee an uncomplicated, trouble-free life and we all know the "rain falls on the righteous and unrighteous". However, lives controlled by sin so many times lead to preventable conditions such as substance abuse/dependency, sexually transmitted diseases, and other unsavory situations. Even if one's body "survives" there are often devastating consequences including domestic violence, broken family relationships, financial demise, and intense mental anguish and grief I believe Paul best summed up my thoughts stating, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof'.

The third lesson I learned in medical school is that suffering has no allegiance. All men and women will suffer some form of pain in this life. For some it might be a simple headache once in a while or for others it can be excruciating daily pain that never abates. It is interesting to me to look the concept of pain. Pain begins by the firing of receptors in the body called nociceptive fibers, then part of the brain recognizes this firing and the feeling of pain is sensed. However, if this pain somehow becomes more intense we label this as suffering. For example, Paul was afflicted with a "thorn in his flesh" and asked God three times to take this away but God did not relive this infirmity. Although we don't know what it was (maybe a chronic ulcer or another gastrointestinal infirmity), we do know that Paul suffered from this physical condition enough to pray to God for help. Did Paul deserve this suffering? What about people who have been a part of your lives at one time or another that have endured Paul-like suffering in this life. What about Carol Picanso and her lungs? Or Scott Mitchell and his psychological illness? Why did these three have to endure these hardships? The answer is simple. Sin. Sin destroyed our relationship with God and when sin entered God's perfect creation, pain and suffering entered also. And as Christians we are faced with the fact that by choosing Christ over this world we will not be spared from suffering. Paul writes says, "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution". The suffering we endure may or may not be physical but it will still be a suffering in one form or another and it will have no allegiance, so let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

Finally, I have been taught over and over again that death comes to all. Let me give you a few examples. On medicine, I cared for an elderly demented black man who died while I was giving him chest compressions who looked peaceful as he left this earth. On surgery, I watched a young Asian boy around 18-years-old suffer and die in Emergency Room after having his chest sliced open by a machete in a gang fight. On obstetrics, I emergently delivered a twenty-week-old baby (babies cannot survive outside the womb until about 24 weeks) and watch this baby suffer for over an hour trying to breathe through immature lungs and waited with his inconsolable, devastated mother until his heart stopped beating to pronounce him dead. In all these cases, the result was death and so we too will leave this mortal body through death. Praise be to Christ who conquered death and now waits for us to be resurrected with him after we experience death. Yes, death comes to all but death is not the end but the beginning, the beginning of an eternal life with Christ.

Laura and I want to take this time to thank everyone for all the love and support the church at

Tyngsboro has given us during our stay in Boston. We love each and every one of you and wish

God's blessings on all. And no, this is not a good-bye but simply a "See you later." - Ben Hayes