A “Medical” Experience

FRI., JULY 30, 1999, 6:23 AM
FARM, STUDY

It was vicarious, for you, but yesterday you spent several hours in a medical environment, one focused on eyes and vision difficulties. There was a crowd of patients, each with a “significant other,” for there would need to be care after surgery, especially the driving part. There were nurses in various sorts of “uniforms” (not the right term, now is it!?), and physicians in scrub clothes and masks. It was a busy place, and, certainly many of those coming forth with patches on their operated-on eyes (including Lenore, hopefully) will now see better and have a more enjoyable life.

Most of the patients were middle-aged to elderly, indicating that this “weakness” that was surgically corrected is a somewhat common condition of “the latter years.” Yes, o son, the human body does age, and the inherent weaknesses in each (which can be quite diverse) become more and more apparent.

And yours is a culture that has, as a rather primary value… “fix it!” The science/art/craft of modern medicine has people with developed skills and technology galore, so that procedures that were rarely done… or were even unheard of… in your youth are now done almost routinely, in an efficient, “assembly-line” fashion. A brave new world, indeed.

You were there to assist when the procedure had been completed, but you have recently been a “patient” yourself (with visible stitches), including the repaired tooth, to come. So you do wonder to what extent you should “buy into” this medical aspect of your culture. You have a sense that you are close to the age when you should refuse most medical interventions… a time to live out your life as positively as possible, without recourse to invasive medical procedures. And yet… what should be “fixed” and what not?

In your culture there are almost every-day medical miracles… and people dying from the heat, for want, even, of a fan, which now blows air, warm as it is, on you. Medicare, which will be paying for much of what you experienced yesterday, must be “fixed,” if even the present level of financial help will be available for the increased number of elderly in the next generation. The political parties can’t agree on to what extent Medicare is a luxury or a necessity. The skilled people providing care want to be paid well, even lavishly, but to what extent should this recompense come from individual patients (and their families)… and how much from insurance… and from Medicare?

Legislators don’t want to have to make important decisions about this, and, as I have told you before, this is not a great concern of Mine. I know that when a sperm and an ovum come together and begin to form a new human there are weaknesses as well as strengths that are part of the genetic nature of each new person. In addition, life itself… and particularly “modern” life… presents hazards that must be adapted to, and humans have varying capacities for such “appropriate” adaptation. This is the way I made human life to be, on this small, liveable planet.

I am not a big “fan” of suffering, but I do see some spiritual growth that can come from such… and some is truly “deserved.” You see, I have contact with spirits and souls both before and after their earth experiences, so I have a perspective that is not possible for any of you… save a few enlightened souls, here on earth for some special tasks.