Growing old with purpose!

For some years a group of us held the consultant posts in the major government hospital in our city. It was a big hospital (603 beds), but well away (1,500Km) from the capital, and relatively understaffed at the top level. I was a ‘come and go again’ member of the staff as I spent as much time in Ethiopia as Ethiopian politics and my health would allow. In 1976 when I joined the staff as Surgical Supervisor there were basically 3 general surgeons (the Medical Director was a surgeon but an Administrator (who only treated burns) several orthopaedic surgeons, an eye surgeon, and 2 Obstetrician/Gynaecologists, We had 3 senior anaesthetists and 3 general physicians. Gradually a few others were added. Several years later we got a neurosurgeon, a paediatric surgeon and several younger registrars graduated and joined the staff.

Yesterday was the funeral of the neurosurgeon. There was a huge audience with many family but also many people celebrating his bringing neurosurgery to the north of our state about a thousand by a thousand kilometres! (The state is huge!) My wife and I sat behind the paediatric surgeon and another surgeon both of whom I consider young guys, although in their 70s. I didn’t see him but I have good reason to believe there was a younger, now retired surgeon there and I saw a couple of younger, now older, anaesthetists.

One of the physicians is still alive (nearly 90 I think), an eye surgeon is unwell but alive in the capital city as is a healthy anaesthetist. But we three surgeons sitting together felt that we are the only 3 old brigade of surgeons. And I was there when one was a registrar and years before the other came! I hope for their sakes that I’ll be the next one to die. There is a certainty about death. It reminds me of a story that Jesus told about a guy called Lazarus and a beggar. Lazarus was filthy rich and very self-centred but his wealth didn’t allow him to avoid death. He woke up in hell. The story in the Bible (Luke 16: 19-31) gives several major issues to consider but relevant to this situation – talking across the divide of hell and ‘heaven’ he mentioned that he had relatives who lived as he had and he requested Father Abraham to send a dead guy back to warn them. There was a very powerful statement by Abraham – ‘Even if someone rose from the dead, they wouldn’t believe him!’ This weekend is Easter! He is Risen!