BOOK REFLECTION

Name: Delsie Mortel Vicente Date of Submission: March 27, 2019

Source: Faith Based Care Giving in A Secular World Issue No. 2

Summary of the Issue:

Just as the earth revolves around the sun, so does private spirituality revolves around church
worship and fellowship. A coal separated from the fireplace eventually loses its warmth, an object
lesson that fittingly describes how isolation will eventually rob us of the warmth we have for the
Lord. This just reminds us how important it is be part of a community who loves the Lord and be
associated with other people and to stop being indifferent and ignorant of what they’re going
through. But how can one be successful in doing so? Being empathic. That is associating with
them, listening to them with both ears and delving more to their situation by delving deeply into
their feelings. Though it makes us emotionally at risk, it is the only way where we can show to
them that we care.

Guide Questions on Each Issue (1-4).

To think as God thinks, to feel as God feels, to act as God act.. these are tough things for
me, even beyond imaginable but this is the exact thing I need to learn and practice in order to be a
vessel of blessing to others around me. I believe in this statement “Christian healthcare would
be transformed if we understood spirituality to embrace not only acts such as prayer and
compassionate treatment, but also the capacity to feel the way God feels.” If all Christian medical
doctors and Christian-center institutions have done this, I believe the Lord has already come back
to take us all home. But I can’t blame them, even I face it as an enormous challenge for it requires
a daily exercise of self-consciousness even in the minutest thing that I do. Every day I have to be
aware of my imperfections, a thing we human beings are afraid of, because we’re wired to be right
all the time. But it is needed in order for me to see my wounds, the wounds that I have cause others
and most important of all the desire of healing from all these wounds.

The statement “God sees the best that we are and the best that we can be.” reinforced the
thought in me that worldly fame, position, the highest grades and recognition is not the things that
will make me the best physician. I don’t have to beg for it from people and their praises. The Lord
already sees me as in me my best despite being in my worst and is willing to help me achieve the
person He sees in me. Now this thought, however, does not just apply to me but to everyone as
well. And this learning rids me of the right to judge or mistreat them despite their unworthiness or
their bad, selfish actions. Because amidst all these, the Lord sees their best. The Lord sees what I
can’t see, I see the clouds, He already see the rainbows. And because of this, I am reminded to
think as God think, to feel as God feel and to act as God acts no matter who or what the person has
done. A tough call but its not impossible with the Lord.
Delsie Mortel Vicente March 27, 2019
Source: Patch Adams Movie Reflection Paper

Beyond the Problem

I couldn’t remember how many times I watched that movie before I entered medical school.
Everyone whom I shared my dream as a physician missionary told me “You should watch Patch
Adams. It will help you.” And as I watched it, the most important punchline that made a lasting
impact to me was the riddle about the four fingers by an old man in the Psychiatric institution. The
way the old man say it, and its meaningful thought always reminds me to look beyond the problem
and see what others refuses to see or accepted not to see. When a patient comes to you complaining
of hypertension or a drinking problem or a lifestyle related disease, well its not just about those
cholesterol plugs constricting the blood flow, or the kind of work that puts him into drinking.. its
beyond that and its more of that. Most of the time, a pain on the chest, a syncope or dizziness is
far more than the physiological effects of the food they ate or the drug they take, its also about
their environment, their relationship and their emotions. Ever since first year, when we were
lectured about the biopsychosocial aspect of medicine, I knew right then that medicine and patient
management is not a buffet where you choose your likes and leave out the food that takes your
appetite. No way, medicine and patient management is like eating pancit canton. You swirl your
fork and everything comes along. The same goes with patient treatment, you don’t just take a
strand of one aspect for example medications and focus on it as you treat the patient you have to
treat him as a whole person, not just the symptoms and the signs.

Another thing as I reflect back on the episodes of Patch Adams, is the reality of the
harshness and ingratitude of the human race. Yes, you are a doctor with a noble cause but that
doesn’t exempt you from patients who are there to harm you emotionally and financially. Patch
Adams said it very clearly “Humans are the only ones who kill their own species”. This statement
is a reminder for me that no matter how noble my cause, the time will come when betrayal and
disappointment will come my way. But this should not dissuade me off my course. As long as the
enemy of God is alive, so does hate and sorrow. Though it is a painful process, it will help me in
the process of character building that will fit me in my role in heaven.

And the most important thing I’ve learned, is the fact that I should always treat my patients
as people, worthy of a name, saved and redeemed by the blood of Christ Jesus. Patch Adams
mirrored the same way Jesus treat his patients, without prejudice, without judgment, without bias.
In this world where the patient-doctor ratio is overwhelming, still its not an excuse for me to take
the time to listen and get to know my patients and not show partially to them by their financial
capability.. whether they wear Prada, Versace or Victoria secret or just the blue corner, RRJ and
ukay ukay, it should not be a basis of who I should encounter everyday. Who knows it might be
the last time they would see a doctor, and thus I must use that opportunity to share the story of
God’s love towards them and pray with them.