"The war creates no absolutely new situation: it simply aggravates the permanent human situation so that we can no longer ignore it. Human life has always been lived on the edge of a precipice. Human culture has always had to exist under the shadow of something infinitely more important than itself. If men had postponed the search for knowledge and beauty until they were secure, the search would have never begun. We are mistaken when we compare war to "normal life." Life has never been normal. Even those periods we think most tranquil, like the nineteenth century, turn out on closer inspection, to be full of crises, alarms, difficulties, emergencies. Plausible reasons have never been lacking for putting off all merely cultural activities until some imminent danger has been averted or some crying injustice put right. But humanity long ago chose to neglect those plausible reasons. They propound theorems in beleagured cities, conduct metaphysical arguments in condemned cells, make jokes on scaffolds, discuss poetry while advancing on the walls of Quebec, and comb their hair at Thermopylae. This is not panache; it is our nature."
"It is only our daily bread that we are encouraged to ask for. The present is the only time in which any duty can be done or any grace received."
"What does war do to death? It certainly does not make it more frequent: 100 percent of us die and the percentage cannot be increased. Yet war does do something to death. It forces us to remember it. The only reason that cancer at sixty or paralysis at 75 do not bother us is that we forget them.All schemes of happiness centered in this world were always doomed to final frustration. In ordinary times only a wise man can realize it. Now the stupidest of us knows it."
CS Lewis. The Weight of Glory.
Thursday 11 November 2010
Thursday 4 November 2010
The MRCGP week.
I am writing for the YLCF's peek into your week.
I have just sat my (part one) exam of my MRCGP, which is my post-graduate qualification in General Practice (Family Practice) with results due in 2 weeks time so I am in post-exam mode meaning that other things can become important again!
So my "schedule" has adjusted this week to account for this. I work part time on a General Practice training scheme, Tuesdays, Wednesday morning and Thursdays. So I will write about this past week because that is becoming the new normal.
Monday
I had a few appointments to keep but was up and reading my bible around nine am. I tend to take extended periods on my non working days to read my bible and pray. This is not due to some great amount of discipline on my part but because of my own need of it. At the moment I reading through Isaiah, Luke and 1 Samuel. Especially at the moment I am struck by passages in Isaiah that demonstrate God's sovereignty and control of our lives.
Mid-morning I drive to the doctor's surgery where I use to work and pick up a dictaphone ordered for me by the practice manager. I sit and chat with the doctors during their coffee break. Back home I quickly eat some lunch and walk into town for my hairdressing appointment. I managed to leave my purse at home so have to run home to pick it up, go back to the hairdresser to pay the bill. On the way home through the park, rain is sprinkling, scattered clouds against the cool blue and red and orange leaves falling from the trees.
I meet a lady from church going to pick up her grandson from school and we talk, wind tugging at the trees. I fly back into town pay my bill and meet with the Church minister for a coffee.
Back home I eat, my dinner and start thinking through work the next day.
Tuesday
I am doing the unscheduled care clinic in the morning, lots of variety and last-minuteness and then have an afternoon discussing different issues with the pharmacist. I need creams and gloves from Body Shop due to my hand ezcema flaring up so rush to the shops in the late afternoon for this.
Wednesday
I go to GP Registrar teaching, small groups of doctors meeting to discuss cases and different educational topics. In the afternoon, I need to do various jobs including going to the bank and decide to watch the Social Network at the cinema. After the film, I sit in the theatre cafe and start writing an article for the church magazine which I need to submit at the end of November. Then I go to the church bible study which is looking at King Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20.
Thursday
Today I am duty doctor so at work early, dealing with house calls in the morning, telephoning advice and last minute appointments in the afternoon. In the evening, I take things easy, unwinding from quite a stressful day.
Friday
Today I meet a friend who has finished night shift at the children's hospital for breakfast at a cafe- pancakes, bacon and maple syrup and tea or coffee and lots of conversation. Then I buy some mint tea bags from a special coffee shop that I want to give to a Lebanese friend as a gift and grab another quick cup of tea and finish my book in a different cafe. I text my Lebanese friend to arrange meeting up and my arabic lesson. This afternoon I have practiced the piano, and have various admin and computer work to do.
Saturday and Sunday
Neither of these days have arrived yet but I have a meal to look forward to at an Italian restaurant with a friend on Saturday night before the prayer meeting along with more computer work and housework. Sunday will be playing in the church music group, relaxing in the afternoon and then the evening service.
I have been challenged of late to regard my singleness as an opportunity to be flexible, to have a wide circle of friends and interests, to show hospitality and to read and the study the bible in a more focussed way. I have at times been full of self-pity and so wasted time that I could of used better and forming a more disciplined schedule for Monday and Friday especially is part of this. There are a few things I wish to focus on :-
Ephesians ch 5 vs 16-17 (NIV)
I have just sat my (part one) exam of my MRCGP, which is my post-graduate qualification in General Practice (Family Practice) with results due in 2 weeks time so I am in post-exam mode meaning that other things can become important again!
So my "schedule" has adjusted this week to account for this. I work part time on a General Practice training scheme, Tuesdays, Wednesday morning and Thursdays. So I will write about this past week because that is becoming the new normal.
Monday
I had a few appointments to keep but was up and reading my bible around nine am. I tend to take extended periods on my non working days to read my bible and pray. This is not due to some great amount of discipline on my part but because of my own need of it. At the moment I reading through Isaiah, Luke and 1 Samuel. Especially at the moment I am struck by passages in Isaiah that demonstrate God's sovereignty and control of our lives.
Mid-morning I drive to the doctor's surgery where I use to work and pick up a dictaphone ordered for me by the practice manager. I sit and chat with the doctors during their coffee break. Back home I quickly eat some lunch and walk into town for my hairdressing appointment. I managed to leave my purse at home so have to run home to pick it up, go back to the hairdresser to pay the bill. On the way home through the park, rain is sprinkling, scattered clouds against the cool blue and red and orange leaves falling from the trees.
I meet a lady from church going to pick up her grandson from school and we talk, wind tugging at the trees. I fly back into town pay my bill and meet with the Church minister for a coffee.
Back home I eat, my dinner and start thinking through work the next day.
Tuesday
I am doing the unscheduled care clinic in the morning, lots of variety and last-minuteness and then have an afternoon discussing different issues with the pharmacist. I need creams and gloves from Body Shop due to my hand ezcema flaring up so rush to the shops in the late afternoon for this.
Wednesday
I go to GP Registrar teaching, small groups of doctors meeting to discuss cases and different educational topics. In the afternoon, I need to do various jobs including going to the bank and decide to watch the Social Network at the cinema. After the film, I sit in the theatre cafe and start writing an article for the church magazine which I need to submit at the end of November. Then I go to the church bible study which is looking at King Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20.
Thursday
Today I am duty doctor so at work early, dealing with house calls in the morning, telephoning advice and last minute appointments in the afternoon. In the evening, I take things easy, unwinding from quite a stressful day.
Friday
Today I meet a friend who has finished night shift at the children's hospital for breakfast at a cafe- pancakes, bacon and maple syrup and tea or coffee and lots of conversation. Then I buy some mint tea bags from a special coffee shop that I want to give to a Lebanese friend as a gift and grab another quick cup of tea and finish my book in a different cafe. I text my Lebanese friend to arrange meeting up and my arabic lesson. This afternoon I have practiced the piano, and have various admin and computer work to do.
Saturday and Sunday
Neither of these days have arrived yet but I have a meal to look forward to at an Italian restaurant with a friend on Saturday night before the prayer meeting along with more computer work and housework. Sunday will be playing in the church music group, relaxing in the afternoon and then the evening service.
I have been challenged of late to regard my singleness as an opportunity to be flexible, to have a wide circle of friends and interests, to show hospitality and to read and the study the bible in a more focussed way. I have at times been full of self-pity and so wasted time that I could of used better and forming a more disciplined schedule for Monday and Friday especially is part of this. There are a few things I wish to focus on :-
- Keeping "home" in my flat and so finding it easier to be generous with hospitality.
- More focussed bible study
- Giving a "whole heart and mind" at work and so being a good witness and showing care to those who need it.
- Arabic language study
Those are my big projects and so I need to break down my days to see those through.
"Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil."Ephesians ch 5 vs 16-17 (NIV)
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