BEFORE I BECOME SOMEONE'S MEMORY

 4508

Pt. 1

I was just reading from a volume written by an Australian social media friend. Laine lost her husband a few years ago, and understandably, it has taken some amount of time to begin to transcend her loss.

And it occurred to me that one day, someday, someone will also be

…thinking of me in the past tense.

While, as believers, we are on a train leading to a known destination, we have never ridden this particular conveyance before, and the depot to which we journey remains an unknown quality. Nebulous, and apart from the assurance that the One who loved us and gave Himself for us will be there to meet us, there is a certain anxiety for our never having pulled into that singular station before.

We simply have no tape or scale by which it might be measured, the Hereafter, since it has not been the practice of those who have gone before us to return to this mortal coil; (although some have claimed to have experienced momentary visitations).

After my father’s passing, my mother awoke to discover her dear Henry; seating in the bedside rocking chair. He had the brightest smile on his face, though he said nothing. Seconds later, he disappeared. You can imagine what comfort my mother derived from the event. I can relate since I have experienced several miracles during the course of my two thirds of a century on this earth; including the momentary, visible presence of what (or whom) I believe was an angel.

And yet, for all the comfort such experiences provide us, and even for the assurances of scripture, we are left with an opaque reflection of God and heaven.

“We see through a glass darkly… (but then, face to face.)”

Pt. 2

Too many of my classmates “left us before their time.” At least, this seems to be the standard phrase to describe those who were denied a long and full life here.

I think of one young lady, in particular, (though there were others who died in their teens, and more who passed from this earth before reaching the nominal age of departure).

Beth was a dear Christian girl, a year behind me, and in my choral group. She lost her life in a one car accident during her second semester of high school. I have often reflected on the good she might have done and the impact she might have had; were she to have been granted the number of years which have, thus far, been granted to me.

Nevertheless, none of us can stay here, and as I have often quipped to my clients and interns, “We will all get our turn.”

(And indeed, we will).

I am SO absolutely sensitive to the awareness that I will soon become someone else’s memory that I am, on a daily basis, in the process of “leaving something behind.”

For you see, not a day goes by that I fail to write 8 or 10 pages in a journal to which I have assigned a title which includes the word, “diary;” (though, in fact, it is an exhaustive series of blogs and stories). And I ‘save’ these writings to a couple of duplicate hard drives, and file paper copies away in binders.

Following is a portion of the preface I have included at the top of each of the one hundred plus complete volumes of my ‘diary,’ (which I have thus far written).

I stare into the eyes of that yellowing, fading portrait of my great Grandparents now, and their dull, unblinking eyes reveal

… absolutely nothing.

And I have often mused, “Why didn’t you leave something behind?”

Oh, how I would have enjoyed knowing you. How wonderful it would have been if you had left some word, some reflection, something of yourselves.

Well, my dear descendants, I have decided NOT to repeat their mistake; (and yes, I consider it an irrevocable mistake; which once the party has passed from this earth can never be corrected.) I think the following daily journal entries, (as well as my previously written autobiography, counseling memoirs, and other volumes) will not only elicit a few laughs, but provide you some insight into the life of your ancestor; someone not unlike yourself, who lived, and loved, and moved, and breathed, and made his way about this earth, and even impacted a few for good, “before you were even a twinkle.”

You deserve it.

And this writer, who by the time you read these words may have long since ceased to live, and love, and breathe, and move, and enjoy the beauty which God has visited upon our planet, can only wish you well, and exhort you to do as I am currently doing…

We are all too close to having eyes which do not see, ears which do not hear, and mouths which do not speak.

While there is still time,

… Leave something of yourself behind.

Pt. 3

There’s a commercial on TV which advertises “The American Association of Retired Persons.” In it we see a rather attractive senior citizen walking down a woodsy pathway.

And then her supposed voice muses,

“I’m sixty. I have a long life ahead of me. Places to go. Things to do.”

And without fail I talk back to my television.

“No, you don’t! You don’t have a long life ahead of you. Lady, look in the mirror. Smell the coffee. You just said you were sixty years old! All things being equal, you’ll be dead in less than twenty years!”

And yet, people her age and my age have been given SUCH a gift. The gift of time and impact. A gift that many younger than us were denied. So like the lines from one of my favorite movies, in which the major character expresses his gratitude to his employees and friends; at a birthday party they have arranged for him.

“I’m going to break precedent, and tell you my ‘one candle wish’…that you would have a life as lucky as mine, where you can wake up one morning, and say, ‘I don’t want anything more.’”

(and)

“Sixty-five years. Don’t they go by in a blink?” (“Meet Joe Black”)

The longer I live, the exceedingly more grateful I continue to be for having experienced such a comparatively long and incomparably rich life on God’s good earth.

And on a daily basis I pray that I may successfully fulfill the remainder of the destiny which God dreamed for me before He spoke the worlds into place, and before

…I become someone else’s memory.

by Bill McDonald, PhD

CURTAIN THE CAT

 4507

"For twenty years, a stray cat lived beneath the stage of a Broadway theater. Actors came and went. Shows opened and closed. She stayed. When COVID shut Broadway down on March 12, 2020, the theater went dark. The cat didn't leave. A security guard checking the building once a week found her sitting in the same seat in the orchestra section every night. Row F, Seat 7. For 487 days."

The Belasco Theatre on West 44th Street has been open since 1907. It is one of Broadway's most storied houses — home to legendary productions, ghost stories, and a reputation for being haunted by the spirit of its founder, David Belasco.

It is also home to a cat.

The stagehands discovered her sometime around 2001 — a small grey tabby living in the trap room beneath the stage. No one knew how she got in. No one tried very hard to get her out. She ate mice. She was quiet. She was theater.

They called her Curtain.

For twenty years, Curtain lived in the building. She watched rehearsals from the wings. She slept on the prop tables. She walked across the stage during tech — always during tech, never during a show, as if she understood the difference. Actors would arrive for a new production and be told: "There's a cat. She's been here longer than you. Don't feed her dairy."

She saw productions come and go. She saw standing ovations and early closings. She saw understudies become stars and stars become memories. She stayed.

On March 12, 2020, Broadway went dark. Every theater. Every show. Every light.

The Belasco was locked. The company was sent home. The sets stayed in place. The ghost light — the single bare bulb left burning on an empty stage, a Broadway tradition — was turned on.

Curtain was inside. No one came to get her. The building manager arranged for a security guard to check the building once a week — walk the house, check the pipes, make sure nothing was flooding or freezing.

On his first check, three days after shutdown, the guard found Curtain. Not backstage. Not in the trap room. Not in the wings.

She was in the house. Sitting in an orchestra seat. Row F, Seat 7. Facing the stage.

She was watching the ghost light.

The guard noted it. He came back the next week. Same seat. Same position. Facing the empty stage.

Week after week. Month after month. For 487 days — the entire duration of the Broadway shutdown — Curtain sat in Row F, Seat 7 and watched a ghost light burn on an empty stage in a silent theater.

The guard started leaving food and water in the seat next to hers. She ate. She drank. She never moved to a different seat.

When he told the building manager, the manager told a stagehand, who told a dresser, who told an actor, who posted about it. The story spread through the Broadway community quietly — not as a viral post, but as a whispered piece of theater lore. The kind of story that gets told in dressing rooms and greenrooms and late-night bars on Restaurant Row.

The cat who wouldn't leave. The cat who sat in the audience every night during the longest dark in Broadway history and waited for the curtain to rise.

On September 14, 2021, Broadway reopened. The Belasco's first production back had its first preview on a Tuesday night. The house was full. The audience was crying before the show started — just from being back.

Curtain was not in Row F. She was backstage. In her spot. In the wings. Watching from the darkness as the stage lights came on for the first time in sixteen months.

A stagehand who had worked the Belasco for eleven years said he saw her in the wings that night — sitting perfectly still, ears forward, watching the stage fill with light and sound and life.

He said she blinked once. Slowly. The way cats do when they are content.

Then she walked back into the trap room and went to sleep.

Curtain is estimated to be at least twenty-three years old now. She is the longest-serving resident of any Broadway theater. She has survived renovations, productions, a pandemic, and the silence that follows when the lights go out and everyone leaves.

She is still there.

Row F, Seat 7 is unofficially retired. No ticket is sold for it on any production at the Belasco. If you ask the box office why, they'll say it's a sight-line issue.

The stagehands know the truth. It's not a sight-line issue.

It's Curtain's seat.

And she earned it by sitting in it every night for 487 days when no one else would.

(from a social media post)

A VERY BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

 4506

Pt. 1

There is a new movie out with Tom Hanks called, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.” And since I had previously written about Mister Rogers, (a blog that is not included here) I had more than a passing interest in seeing the movie.

Admittedly, I feel a little guilty going to a movie alone these days, as my wife is staying with our grandson, while our daughter is spending a month in Nepal, (yes, Nepal) engaged in doing social work with an NGO there. (But, admittedly, the guilt wasn’t potent enough to preclude me from following through with my plan last night).

Well, so I got dressed, and drove the ten or twelve minutes which separated me from the local theater in time for the first Friday evening premier showing. However, when I arrived, I discovered that the parking lot was full to overflowing, and I surmised that I didn’t want any part of sitting “bunched up” against a person on my left and one on my right, and a theater packed out like sardines in a can. As a result, I had no sooner drove into the “asphalt jungle” that I turned around and drove out of it.

Having arrived home, and put on my jogging shorts and muscle shirt, I debated whether I would “take in” the 10:30pm showing of the movie. I was tired, and I knew my ambition would, no doubt, progressively wane in the two hours which separated me from the process of redressing, getting in the car, and heading back to the theater.

However, as a counselor I tell my clients that there’s a great substitute for ambition, since ambition is little more than an emotion. The substitute? A decision. After all, anything good must be done “on purpose.” Only wrecks happen by accident. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist that little teaching).

Pt. 2

Thus, I made a premeditated decision to take in the late movie. I realized that the theater would be “blown out” on Saturday, and I would find myself in exactly “the same boat” as I experienced the first time that I drove up to the theater.

Throwing my street clothes back on, I walked out the door at 9:55pm, and retraced my route of two hours earlier. Ten minutes later I drove into… an almost empty parking lot, and, as you might expect, I wasn’t complaining.

Exiting the car, I walked the twenty yards which separated me from my quest; the box office window. And as I stepped up to the young lady in the booth, and she looked expectantly at me, waiting for me to announce the movie of my choice, I almost involuntarily began to sing.

(Yeah, I did).

“It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood…”

And then, the slightest bit self-conscious, I mused,

“I bet lots of folks have walked up to you tonight singing that song.”

To which “Anna” replied,

“Ummm. Nope, you’re the first one!”

(Now, I really did feel like a fool. LOL).

Having purchased my ticket, I walked through the front door and into the lobby, had my ticket punched by the attendant, walked to the candy counter, asked for a senior popcorn and coke, paid for my goodies, and proceeded to theater number three; down the hallway, second door on the right.

Pt. 3

Walking into the theater, I found it to be very dark, very quiet, and …very empty.

As a matter of fact, I was the only human being in the whole place! And, as I always do, I climbed the steps of the amphitheater to the top, walked to the middle of the row of seats, and plopped down, dead center; setting my drink in the right holder, and my wallet, and cell phone in the left one. (I am one of those guys who doesn’t like to carry stuff in my pockets. Even when I go to a restaurant, I immediately set the obtrusive items on the table).

Be that as it may, I sat “all by my lonely” on the top row of the theater, as the commercials for upcoming movies ran for 15 plus minutes. However, finally, finally the opening credits of “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” flickered onto the screen.

And as you might imagine, the first scene had a fairly believable Tom Hanks, portraying Mr. Rogers, walking through the door of his “play room,” opening a nearby closet, exchanging his suit coat for a red sweater, and taking off his street shoes, and replacing them with sneakers.

To be fair, I thought the well-known actor’s attempt to replicate Mr. Rogers’ voice was slightly contrived, (but perhaps only slightly). At the same time, he looked enough like “the real McCoy” for this audience of one to settle in, and absorb the plot and implications of the movie.

And without absolutely spoiling it for you, suffice it to say that the plot centered around a fella named Tom Junod, (though he assumes a different name in the film), an Esquire magazine journalist, and his relationship with Mr. Rogers; (which all began when the former contacted the latter for an interview).

Ultimately, this interview was titled, “Can You Say…Hero?” and became the feature story for the November 1998 issue of Esquire magazine, and featured (there’s that word again) the beaming image of Mr. Rogers on the cover.

Pt. 4

And again, without giving away anything, Mr. Rogers made a profound difference in Tom Junod’s life, and for that matter, the life of his entire family. He made a difference in many lives that God set in his pathway.

There was an exchange in the movie in which our “hero” is speaking on the phone with the foregoing journalist, and he says,

“Do you know who the most important person in my life is, Tom?”

And perhaps Junod merely responded with, “Who?”

And with a twinkle in his eye, and a slight catch in his characteristic voice, Mr. Rogers replies,

“Well, at this very moment, Tom, you are the most important person in my life!”

I think that’s how he made you feel. Yes, I think that’s how he made you feel. As if for that moment in time, you were the only person who really mattered to him.

I felt very much this way when I paraphrased the Book of Philippians; (years before I paraphrased the entire New Testament). It was as if I was given the wherewithal to walk into Paul’s Roman cell, and sit down beside him, and talk with him about his life, and impact and suffering, to know him as my friend and brother, and to realize his compassion and joy in spite of the circumstances which surrounded him.

Following is a poignant reminiscence from an article about Mr. Rogers.

“Every morning, when he swims, he steps on a scale in his bathing suit and his bathing cap and his goggles, and the scale tells him he weighs 143 pounds. This has happened so many times that Mister Rogers has come to see that number as a gift, as a destiny fulfilled, because, as he says,

‘the number 143 means I love you. It takes one letter to say I, and four letters to say love, and three letters to say you. One hundred and forty-three. I love you. Isn't that wonderful?’”

Pt. 5

And now, the movie finally drew to a close, and I hesitated to leave. After stuffing my wallet and cell phone back into my pockets, I ambled down the long flight of steps, and paused to see if any actual footage of the “real” Mister Rogers would appear on the screen. And, in fact, it did.

There he was standing in his element, in his little “play room” with his puppets, and lighting up his little world with that memorable smile.

Now, I walked down the long hallway which led out of the very dark, very quiet and… very empty theater. And as I walked out the door, and into the lobby of the place, I could still hear the closing song as it trailed off behind me.Top of Form

 

Bottom of Form

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood
A beautiful day for a neighbor
Could you be mine?
Would you be mine?

Let's make the most of this beautiful day
Since we're together, might as well say
Would you be my, could you be my
Won't you be my neighbor?

A lone security guard greeted me, as I neared the exit of the building. The lights were turned down low. No one was behind the candy counter, and the ushers were, by now, heating up their TV dinners, or turning in for the night.

And now, I pushed open the exit door, and stepped out into the street. And a penetrating moment of sadness suddenly overwhelmed me.

I can’t really account for why I experienced that fleeting emotion. Perhaps it had something to do with the poignancy of losing anyone so singular as this man happened to be, and who had impacted several generations of children.

Children who ultimately became fathers and mothers, and subsequently, grandfathers and grandmothers; while their own children and grandchildren continued to be entertained by the same humble little man; who to children presented as an adult, and who to adults seemed almost childlike.

So much like the journalist, I felt almost as if I had been granted my own personal interview with Mister Rogers. After all, I had been the only human being within fifty feet in any direction, and I experienced a strange sensation that this man had set aside a bit of his valuable time, as he did with countless other people during his lifetime… for me.

And perhaps during those few moments which he granted me, I was, indeed, the most important person in his life.

*Tom Hanks was recently informed that he and Mister Rogers are 6^th cousins. No wonder they look alike.

By William McDonald, PhD

JUST BEHIND THE CURTAIN

 4505

     I have previously written about the following experience in my Returning in Their Place daily journal; which I kept on our trip to Scotland and Ireland eight years ago. (England would have to wait, though I would love to see it).

 

     My wife and I were on a two week guided tour to the lands of our ancestors, (as well as the ancestors of a large percentage of modern day Americans).

 

     I have long since forgotten the name of the Scottish town in which we stopped for the night, or for that matter the hotel. Suffice it to say that we were somewhere in central Scotland.

 

     Our tour group gathered in the hotel restaurant about 6pm for our evening meal. It was a large room, and other guests, perhaps another tour group, filled every available seat. There were well more than a hundred people in the place.

 

     I have also long since forgotten whether the hotel provided us any entertainment. There may have been a pianist. There may have been a singer. (However, if we lacked anyone to entertain us, I would soon make up for the lack).

 

    My wife, daughter, and grandson sat in the other chairs which surrounded me. We were provided menus and I chose a nice filet of salmon, broccoli, and mashed potatoes. (My mouth is watering just thinking about it)! And while we were offered an alcoholic beverage, (white wine was suggested as an accompaniment for my meal), we all declined.

 

     Everything proceeded nominally during the meal, and there was nothing especially memorable about the discussion at our little table. However, (and it was and continues to be a huge “HOWEVER”).

 

Pt. 2

 

     However, as the meal neared its inevitable conclusion, I looked to my left, and noticed a curtain; perhaps five feet in width and seven feet in height. And given my general state of curiosity which has accompanied me the past seventy years, I was determined to discover what lay behind it. (Can we say “Wiley Coyote and Roadrunner”)?

 

     As Jean, Kristy and Noah finished off the last few remnants of whatever they happened to be eating that evening, I stood up, and grabbed one side of the curtain; with the intention of peeking behind the heavy non-descript cloth. But now, all my well-intentioned plans “went south.” Whereas, I thought the curtain might have hidden absolutely nothing but a bare wall, I found myself falling into an abyss! And given my precarious (lack of) footing, I attempted to right myself by jerking downward on the curtain.

 

     And now, the top edge of the curtain gave way, and the fabric hooks began to bend, and tear away from the cloth. And now, I felt my hand touch something hard behind the curtain, and I just managed to regain my balance.

During the course of my unfortunate, but admittedly laughable experience, someone nearby uttered a one syllable word. (Well, not exactly a word). For you see, as I was in the process of falling into the small cavern, my wife emitted a 150 decibel scream!

 

     Having regained my balance, I sheepishly looked around me, and noticed one hundred plus men, women, and children were looking back at me! For one moment in time, the entire room was so utterly quiet you might have heard a pin drop!

 

     And now, (my wife has often referred to me as “The Master of the Unexpected”) I faced the assembled dinner guests… and rendered a slow military salute!

 

     (It occurred to me later that my fellow diners must have thought I had imbibed a couple of liters of that white wine)!

 

     And now, without so much as another word, Jean, Kristy, and Noah rose to their feet. What little food still remained on our plates was immediately forgotten. With faces focused on the floor, (and alluding to my previous military implication), we made a hasty retreat.

 

     It's easy to laugh about it now, but it certainly wasn’t funny at the time.

I never did find out what was behind that curtain!

 

     When I was in the second grade, my teacher asked me to portray the Wizard of Oz in a class play. I have previously written about that fiasco, and I will always remember the lines I spoke that day. (“I am Oz, the great and the terrible. Who are you and why do you seek me”)?

 

     When it “was all said and done,” the little fella behind the curtain had a self-inflated view of his own importance, but meant no harm.

 

     However, the same cannot be said about life. Life offers us many seasons, and, in essence, many curtains. As often as not, however, what lies just behind the curtain is not only unexpected, but, at best, unpleasant.

 

     Jesus promised we would experience tribulation. (John 14:27). You cannot live in this mortal sphere, be you rich or poor, unknown, famous, or infamous without experiencing suffering.

 

     Even now, as I write these words, I am watching a two year old television special which includes the hosts of The Today Show. At this very moment, Savannah Guthrie is speaking about suffering. Little could she have known at the time that just behind that curtain of life, her mother would be taken from her home, and is still missing.

 

     If this was all there was, the abundance of curtains, and that which lies just behind them could be overwhelming. However, this IS NOT all there is. We have a great Savior who has gone to prepare a place for us, and who has promised to receive us unto Himself.

 

     Speaking of curtains, I am reminded of a verse in scripture related to the crucifixion of Christ.

 

     “At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” (Matthew 27:51a, NIV)

 

     The symbolism, as well as the literalness of this verse cannot be overstated.

 

     Hebrews 4:15-16 invites us to walk right through that curtain which separates us from the Holy of Holies, and to commune with our Abba Father there.

 

     And that is not the whole ball of wax. On the other side of this curtain of life, as believers, we are guaranteed a grand entrance into our Father’s House. We will, as it were, walk from this momentary room into the eternal one. We shall see Him as He is. We will live with the One who loved us, and gave Himself for us; our Savior, Messiah and King, the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

      …Just behind the curtain.

by Bill McDonald, PhD

STAYING BY THE STUFF

 4504

 

      “…but as his part is that goes down to the battle, so shall his part be, that tarrieth (stays) by the stuff: they shall part (share) alike.1^st Samuel 30:24, GNV

 

     When I was considering a suitable scripture for this devotion, I immediately thought of David and his men, and their battle with the Amalekites, and those who “stayed by the stuff.” You see, in this particular case, I could be characterized in very much the same way.

 

     I served as a mentor for a young lady named Alyssa, in a church which we both attended. Over the years I have offered a self-styled formal mentoring program to dozens of potential young people of excellence. As memory serves me, I may have served Alyssa in this capacity about 2012.

 

     Ultimately, Alyssa attended Oral Roberts University, and was awarded both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees there. Prior to completing her master’s degree, she was provided the opportunity to represent Christ for all Nations as their crusade representative in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Since Alyssa fulfilled her role well, she went on to serve as this ministry’s International Website Coordinator.

 

     Reinhard Bonnke was the founder of CfaN, and served as president of this organization for years afterwards. It might be helpful here to provide my readers some understanding of the impact of this particular ministry.

 

     Although Christ for all Nations is little known among the majority of believers, it has reached more people than any other ministry in the history of the world! To elaborate, its primary outreach is to the peoples of Africa, and it has not been unusual for 1-2 million native people to attend any given crusade. Of course, given the numbers, such crusades are held outdoors. I have been amazed as I looked at photos of the immense crowds! As you might imagine, multiplied thousands have flooded to the front when Rev. Bonnke has invited people to accept Christ as Savior.

 

     Alyssa went on to serve Rev. Bonnke in the capacity, be it informal or formal, of a personal assistant. After he retired, she served Rev. Kolenda in the same capacity. I have seen photos of Alyssa at one particular crusade in Africa a few years ago.   

 

     All the foregoing to convey the following:

 

     God has granted me the inestimable privilege of touching a solitary life who, ultimately, ministered in an organization which has no par in the history of the world, and which has profoundly impacted millions of souls, and, as a result, unknown multitudes have been brought to a saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

     It has been a pleasure and privilege to “Stay by the Stuff.”

 by Bill McDonald, PhD 

      

 

 

 

SOMETHING THE LORD MADE

4503 

      I came across a wonderful movie titled, “Something The Lord Made.” During the rental period we must have watched it five times; (not to mention we were late turning it back in.)

 

     It is the true story of two contradictory figures who lived during the 20^th century. As different as they were, they were very much the same. You’ll understand by the time I finish the story.

 

     Alfred Blalock was an eminent white physician who pioneered some pretty impressive breakthroughs in medical science. It so happened he needed a cleanup man for his lab, and a black fella named Vivian (yes, Vivian) Thomas applied for the job.

 

     He’d hardly begun his new job when Dr. Blalock realized he’d hired a prodigy. For although the young black man had only a high school diploma, he displayed the most intense interest in the doctor’s activities, and was often found reading medical journals in his free time. When Alfred quizzed Vivian, he learned the young man had plans for medical school.

 

    Though the two men were from different social, academic and economic strata, they found themselves drawn to one another, and ultimately became fast friends, as well as partners. Blalock depended on Thomas and seemed bound and determined to take him where ever fate beckoned them.

 

     Eventually the physician moved to Baltimore and a position at Johns Hopkins University Hospital. The men left Nashville and the South far behind, in favor of this new challenge.

 

    This new environment agreed with them, and they were quickly inundated with lab work devoted to discovering the secrets of the heart; (organic, not romantic.) It took very little time for Alfred to understand just how talented and proficient Vivian really was.

 

    Oh, there was the normal misunderstandings between the two. It was “The Thirties” and black men were still being hung from trees for the “serious offense” of smiling at a white woman. The relationship was colored by the times, but possibly more by the pride that circulated in the veins of the eminent physician. When Dr. Blalock was featured on the cover of Life Magazine, he never considered including Vivian. When he had the opportunity to speak before an audience of his peers, he never mentioned the contribution of his black partner.

      

     Yet there was something special about Vivian Thomas; something that transcended every purposeful or cultural attempt to “keep him down.” And for all their differences and all their misunderstandings, the two loved and respected one another. And they formed an attachment that superceded the physician’s relationship with his own peers.

 

     Though he was only a lab technician, Vivian attempted some heretofore theoretical techniques in surgery;…with dogs serving as his guinea pigs. And though “The Forties” had arrived, and though American physicians thought of themselves as pioneers, heart surgery was still considered both  impossible, and taboo. Things were about to change.

 

     The two men developed a treatment for “blue baby syndrome,” and decided it was time to make the leap from animals to humans. Half the staff thought they were crazy, and the other half expected them to fail.

 

     The initial operation on a very sick baby proceeded, and hours ticked by. As the surgery concluded and the heart stint was opened wide, the child’s bluish color immediately faded and her skin turned a wonderful pink. At that moment childish smiles lit Alfred’s and Vivian’s features. They had done “the impossible” and put all the nay sayers to shame.

 

    Vivian’s mentors became his students, (which has been known to happen.) For the humble little black man, with a high school diploma, found himself in a position to instruct preeminent physicians. And the fame of that little black man spread quickly throughout the hospital and the world. Respect replaced prejudice.

 

    Dr. Blalock ultimately left Johns Hopkins in favor of a teaching post, while Vivian remained in his lab. Years flew by and the good doctor died, as Thomas aged in his important position.

    The lab technician never realized his dream of medical school. Money was always the issue. He lived and died a high school graduate. But that is not “the rest of the story.”

 

    As Vivian neared the end of his marvelous journey, it occurred to “the powers that be” at Johns Hopkins that the humble man merited a singular honor. And on such and such a day the entire staff gathered to congratulate the man who, along with his mentor, had almost single handedly put their institution on the map.

 

    We have chosen to sit near the back of the auditorium, and we notice Vivian seated on the first row with his family. Suddenly, a female doctor walks to the podium, and calls Mr. Thomas forward, as she begins to read from a large certificate.

 

    Afterwards, a beautiful painting of Vivian is unveiled. The little man’s eyes light up, and well with tears. A lab technician had stepped onto the stage. A doctor now steps off of it. For our wonderful little hero has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Medicine!

 

    And did I tell you? The painting of Dr. Vivian Thomas can still be seen in the main lobby of Johns Hopkins University Hospital next to the painting of his partner and friend, Dr. Alfred Blalock. And in death their likenesses still reside there; side by side, as they did in life. Vivian died in 1985, outliving his mentor by two decades.

 

    These two most excellent fellows, Alfred and Vivian, were medical pioneers. They performed the first heart surgeries in the history of the world. All those surgeons who operate on the cardiac muscle today have become the professional grandchildren of these two men. And the millions of patients who ever had their lives extended ought pause a moment, and reflect on the singular lives of Dr. Alfred Blalock and Dr. Vivian Thomas.

 

    Alfred and Vivian were a gift to mankind. They were, indeed, “Something The Lord Made.”

by Bill McDonald, PhD

EMBRACING INSIGHT. AVOIDING CATASTROPHE

 4502

      “And what about the eighteen people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them?” (Luke 13:4, NLT)

 

      I have always loved space flight, and all the rockets, and liftoffs, and  moon suits that go with it.

 

      I remember the three major accidents that have blemished an otherwise wonderful, and courageous effort to not only orbit the earth in near space, but to sail across the unknown void towards the moon.

 

      I graduated from high school in 1967. Three men sat on a launch pad early that year. It was only a training mission, and the immense Saturn rocket was scheduled to go… nowhere. Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee were strapped in, and were performing various tests of the equipment. Then, the unspeakable happened. A flash fire burned quickly through the craft; trapping the men inside. The astronaut’s panicked voices screamed for assistance. The escape hatch was not designed to be opened rapidly. The 100% oxygen environment nurtured the contagious spread of the fire; offering no hope of escape.

 

     It was 1986 and the moon had been long since conquered, and men were once again circumnavigating the earth; in winged craft that looked more like airplanes, than spacecraft. The Space Shuttle was a marvel of technology. Space flight had become so common that a civilian teacher was strapped in, and prepared for numerous circuits of the earth. Christa McCauliff was excited about the opportunity. Then, the unspeakable happened, again. Seven brave astronauts died 73 seconds after liftoff. I was working a hundred miles from the Cape that day, and though I didn’t witness the explosion, I remember the white, wispy smoke that hung in the sky long afterwards. 

 

     It was 2003, and a veteran space shuttle had descended to four hundred thousand feet above the continental United States. Sixteen minutes from landing everything literally began to fall apart. The Columbia burned up in earth’s low atmosphere, and small pieces were scattered over several states.

 

     Gus Grissom and his fine crew died, as a result of faulty wiring, a too rich oxygen atmosphere in the cabin, and a door that was not designed for quick exit.

 

    The Challenger was doomed due to a poorly designed “O-Ring” that allowed hot gases to escape the main rocket; made less durable as a result of cold weather conditions that day.

 

    The Columbia was damaged in the first few seconds after liftoff, as a large piece of insulation bounced off its left wing.

 

     I heard a sermon that sounds just about right. We learn in three ways. Through insight, through crisis, or finally, as a result of catastrophe. If insight is ignored, the next incremental step is crisis. If crisis is somehow taken for granted, the subsequent, and final step becomes catastrophe.

 

     We were in too big a hurry to get to the moon. President Kennedy had promised that we would be there before the new decade began. Designs were hurried up, and too much was overlooked.

 

      The Saturn test vehicle should have never caught fire, and the door should have never been so difficult to open. An oxygen-rich environment, and a poor escape design spelled disaster.

 

      The Challenger should not have exploded on that cold day in 1986. Seven wonderful people did not need to die. The sub-contractor had warned NASA to avoid launching the spacecraft on such a cold day.

 

     The Columbia accident was tragic, and unnecessary. Insulation had fallen off the main fuel tank in the past.

 

      Potentially, a spy satellite might well have been used to identify the wing damage, and another shuttle might well have been prepped, and rushed to the doomed spacecraft, and the unfortunate astronauts.

 

     And, “it is neither here, nor there,” but, ironically, all three of our space-related accidents, though they occurred in two different centuries, and three different decades, occurred within one week of the others in January and February on the calendar!

 

     Time and space would fail me to list the hundreds of famous accidents among ships, and planes, and all manner of vehicles over the past hundred years. And in so many of these instances, insight was tossed aside in favor of crisis, and catastrophe.

 

     And to summon up one further example. There was a bridge which spanned a rather small river in a rather insignificant town in West Virginia. The bridge was built in the mid-twentieth century, and had stood for over thirty years. On one particular day, the metal structure began to sway, and creak, and buckle. Dozens of cars, and multiplied people fell into the river.

 

    The final accident report revealed that one small, and seemingly insignificant bolt had shattered. It was a “time bomb waiting to go off.” For, you see, the flaw was there when the bolt was originally fabricated.

 

     It is imperative that we learn through the insight gleaned from the lessons learned over a significant period of time. There’s just nothing like it. It has the potential to save us from so much harm, and suffering.

by Bill McDonald, PhD