"Interesting" Week
Category: Thinking Allowed...
Posted Friday, October 13, 2006 at 09:30 AM [GMT-6]

So, where were we?

Lots going on this week, but before getting to that, let me once more thank you for your kind, encouraging, and sympathetic comments, emails, e-cards, and prayers. My family was blessed by your caring spirit.

My uncle's funeral is tomorrow in Gainesville, and I'll be flying up and back to attend, along with my brother and his wife. My wife is staying here to keep The Niece company. Did I mention that she's spending four nights with us while her brother and mom are in College Station for a student conference? Not a big deal, but one more thing to keep the activity level for the week in the red zone.

I made a cryptic remark in the previous post that the tragic loss in our family might have had the unlikely result of helping my aunt avoid future health problems. That may or may not be the case, now that I know more facts, but let me explain.

My aunt was the first on the scene after her brother apparently fell and suffered a fatal blow to the head. She called 911 and accompanied him to the hospital. Obviously, she was badly shaken by the experience. Later, she began to suffer chest pain and was also admitted to the hospital. The preliminary diagnosis was that she was suffering the precursor to a heart attack. The next day, she went through a series of tests where her heart was found to be strong and healthy; the official call was that the pain was brought on by stress.

That sounds logical. We had at first thought that what she experienced was triggered by the stress, but which had roots in an underlying medical condition -- blocked arteries, perhaps -- that would not otherwise have been discovered without this unfortunate stimulus. I guess we were wrong about that.

On the other hand...

I do know that prayers went up literally across the country as soon as her situation was made known. I'm not prepared to concede without a doubt that her heart was healthy before those prayers were offered. The fact that the doctors could find no problems afterward could simply underscore the wonderful mysteries of the workings of the Great Physician.

Can I prove it? Nope. Can the doctors prove it didn't happen that way? Again, nope. Which side you come down on depends, I suppose, on how often you've seen things like this in the past, and how your faith shapes your view of the natural and supernatural world. One thing I do know for certain is that the God I serve is more than capable of this and much, much more.