Thursday 9 April 2009

Good Friday reflections

I am on call today.  The morning began with pediatric rounds where every other kid screamed when I examined him or her.  I do love to try and make them smile.  Evelyn was the last one in my row.  She is 10 years old.  She was assaulted yesterday while her mom worked picking tea at the local plantation.  She was brought into the ER and admitted overnight for observation.  I gave her a check up, we talked for a few minutes about the meaning of today and then prayed together.

Following rounds I was called to the ER for an emergency.  Two emergencies, actually.  Two women had been beaten a relative.  One had a deep cut from a bush knife across the back of her forearm, something we call "chop chop."  The second had been hit in the back of the head with a rock and was semi-conscious.  While I was admitting these patients, another young woman came in to the ER.  She had been hit by her husband and had a broken arm.  The rates of domestic violence for Western Highlands in PNG are some of the highest in the world.

Today is Good Friday.  On the very day that Jesus died, I am confronted by the darkness of the world.  I can imagine Jesus walking the road to Calvary.  Perhaps he looked ahead over the centuries and saw the suffering, the pain, the death.  He could have taken the easy way out, but He chose to take sin upon himself.  He bore the suffering, the pain, and the death in our place... that we might have eternal life!  Thank you, Jesus, for the gift of your life.

"Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
that punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed."
~ Isaiah 53

3 comments:

  1. You've painted quite a picture of the love, mercy, and grace God has shown us in contrast with the world's darkness. What is so sad, it that so many in the midst of the darkness don't even recognize it for what it is. They try to treat the symptoms and ignore the disease. Thank God for you being there in a position to offer the real cure to someone like Evelyn.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Stephanie, I am praising the Lord for your sweet gentle spirit and heart of compassion for a people that God also loves. Thank-you for your committment. I know that you were missed by your family on your first holiday away from home. May God be ever with you. We are thankful that you are there and we send our love.
    Aunt Ruth

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow. No one deserves to be treated that way. How demeaning. God has created all of us to love and be loved, not to be treated as a battering ram for those full of anger. Thank God we have a Savior who is acquainted with our suffering, and has experienced unjust treatment. It reminds me of a Bryan Duncan song, "Blessed Are The Tears"...The time has come to share your well-kept secrets/ The hatred and the guilt degrading you/ Need to know you have a friend in Jesus/ He's been there so He knows what you've been through...Blessed Are The Tears that fall/ That wash the stains of life away/ Forgiven and forgotten now/ A new creation's here to stay...Our prayers are with those who bear the unjust scars.

    ReplyDelete