Thrill of a Lifetime

I turned to the business section of the Los Angeles Times on October 17, 2011, and was instantly transfixed by the article with an unusual title, "Virgin Galactic moves into New Mexico spaceport".  Galactic?  Spaceport?  Sounds like science fiction...or something that Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story would say.  I read on, and learned that multibillionaire Sir Richard Branson has invested considerable resources during recent years to make the space travel experience a reality for non-astronaut, paying passengers.  It will be the ultimate thrill ride for those with large amounts of, uh, disposable income.  Instead of paying nearly $100 to go to Disneyland and wait in line for 1-2 hours for the Space Mountain ride, aspiring space travelers have already signed up by the hundreds over several years, for the very reasonable price of $200,000.  Two hundred thousand dollars!  That's nearly four times the median household income in the United States.  I couldn't help but make the following observations:

1.  Sir Richard Branson's going to get a lot richer if he succeeds in this venture.
2.  There are lots of very wealthy people who can afford to drop a lot of money for a thrill ride.
3.  A lot of very wealthy people are very, very bored with their everyday existence.

What kind of experience is worth $200,000?  I thought about the most thrilling, memorable moments in my life, and the list did not include anything that could easily be purchased, at any cost:

1.  My son delivering a game-changing sack against the opposing team's quarterback in a league football game...during elementary school.
2.  My daughter scoring a totally unexpected, game-winning goal as time expired in a soccer match.
3.  My wife surprising me at work during the first year of our marriage, wearing a beautiful floral dress and bringing a large birthday cake for me and my colleagues.
4.  Answers to prayers uttered during my most desperate, darkest moments.

God, in His generous grace, often rewards us with remarkable experiences that sustains us through our days.  Striving for the ultimate experience, on the other hand, tends to disappoint, as King Solomon discovered:

"I said in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself."  But behold, this also was vanity.  I said of laughter, "It is mad," and of pleasure, "What use it it?"  I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine - my heart still guiding me with wisdom - and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life.  (Ecclesiastes 2:1-3)


So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem.  Also my wisdom remained with me.  And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them.  I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil.  Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.  (Ecclesiastes 2:9-11)

Will the hundreds of fare-paying space tourists be satisfied once they experience supra-stratospheric flight?  Probably not.  For the ultimate hard-core thrill seekers, may I suggest that they experience for themselves, for a nominal charge, colonoscopies without sedation.  Their nerves will scream like they've never screamed before.

Brand Spanking New

When does something cease to be new anymore?  A new year will remain "new" as long as I continue to accidentally write the date with the recently expired year.  A new car will still feel like one as long as the "new car smell" lingers.  My wife and I were considered newlyweds during our honeymoon, as we opened our first joint bank accounts, and as we awkwardly referred to each other as "my wife" and "my husband" in public.  After our son was born, we became new parents, but the label of freshness and inexperience wore off fairly quickly, say, around the time when we started to shop for cheaper diapers a couple of months into parenthood.  As a physician, I was the new doctor on the block until my patients and their families finally stopped asking, suspiciously: "So, how long have you been a doctor?"  I've aged visibly since then...soon they'll start asking when I'm planning to retire.


One thing's for sure - new things don't stay new forever.  I spent innumerable hours at the Kaiser Foundation Hospital - Bellflower Medical Center, which was a state-of-the-art medical facility that was featured in national magazines when it opened in 1965.  The hospital earned top honors nationally in multiple measures of quality well into its final years as a full-service hospital, but it was starting to show its age after decades of service.  The facility was replaced in September 2009 by the brand spanking new, 300-million dollar, state of the art Kaiser Foundation Hospital - Downey Medical Center, located about a mile away.  Planning and construction of the hospital took years, and there was palpable excitement and anxiety as transition to the new medical center occurred.  Were the rooms clean, modern, and well appointed?  Check.  Elevators working?  Check. Medical equipment and monitors functioning properly?  Check.  Cafeteria food better than the stuff from the old hospital?  Uh, check.  So far, so good.  How long will it stay new?  No idea.


I pulled my car into the hospital doctor's parking area a few days later, and saw the familiar ambulances parked in front of the emergency department.  The ambulances looked fine, but upon closer inspection, there were huge dents formed into both of the twin steel columns that led to the ambulance entrance.  It didn't take long before careless ambulance drivers were backing up their vehicles right into the columns as they approached the building.  So much for "new".  Large water-filled barricades were seen protecting the entrance the next day.


Although we live in a decaying world where "new" becomes "old" just as quickly as "tomorrow" becomes "yesterday", the apostle John saw a glimpse of the world to come that will one day replace our current existence:


Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."

And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."  (Revelation 21:1-5)

Unlike our current dwelling, God's new creation will stay new forever.  At least there won't be any ambulances there.

Overwhelmed

My feet were dragging a bit more than usual this particular Monday morning.  Instead of relishing the start of a new week, I was already feeling exhausted, not having quite recovered from the rigors of the previous work week.  Work had been tough because one of my pediatric gastroenterology colleagues went to India for a month to visit her mother, and I had been helping to see and manage some of her patients who could not wait for her during her absence.  I ended up spending 12 hours a day at the office and coming home after 9 p.m. on numerous occasions, and I was glad to know that she was planning to return soon.  "Come on, Glenn, you've made it through 25 days...just hang tough through the end of September, then you can relax a little...", I thought to myself as I opened the office door, shoulders slumped, my third cup of coffee of the day in my hand.

I collapsed in my chair and remembered this cute little poster that used to adorn one of the classroom walls at church.  It was a poster of a forlorn looking puppy, droopy ears, chin on the ground, with the words,

"Help me to remember, Lord, that nothing is going to happen to me today that You and I cannot handle together."

Yes, with God all things are possible, and that included me holding on for just one more week until my colleague's scheduled return from India.  My spirit brightened as I thanked God for the encouragement, and logged on the work computer to review what lay ahead for the day.

"Good morning, Doctor Duh."

It was my receptionist, who wore a somewhat worried expression.  No, it was too early in the morning for this....

"Did you hear about Dr. N (my colleague who went to India)?  Her mother got sick, so she's staying for another week...and you have these couple of urgent referrals but your next appointment is more than 4 weeks from today...."

Later that day, the official word was that she'd be out for another 10 days.

Um, God?  About the words on that poster with the cute puppy?  You still there?

I had since made it through several more 12-13 hour work days, and my colleague's return date remains uncertain.  Indeed, help me to remember, Lord, that nothing is going to happen to me today that You and I cannot handle together.  Help me to remember that the next day also.  And the next.

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.  (Philippians 4:13)