So far on Trauma,

Three of my chole patients have retained stones.  Two trauma ex-lap patients have colon leaks.

Today I was thinking, before residency I could count most of the major regrets in my lifetime on my two hands.  Now I think I can't count big regrets in a month on just my two hands alone.  Dealing with patients who don't do well, who might not have suffered things if I had done something differently or better, is a pretty bad feeling.

And then, watching someone get better after I've operated on them, to know that I had an opportunity to play a direct role in saving them from death, is a pretty cool experience too.  There are a lot of extremes in this profession.  Fortunately the emotions are blunted by continual tiredness...right?

"If you attempt to build intimacy with another person, before you have done the hard work of becoming a whole and healthy person, every relationship will be an attempt to complete the hole in your heart and the lack of what you don't have - and will end in disaster."

Les & Leslie Parrott

So, I'm reading a book by Chip Ingram, The Genius of Generosity.  It's a short book, readable in like 30 minutes.  If you get a chance, you should read it :)

In the book there's an example of generosity, outlined by the gospel story... a fresh perspective, never thought of it this way.  Being generous with money is just the first step in living a generous life...

Apparently the story outlines various levels of generosity - a "graduate" course in generosity... evidenced by all the characters involved... generosity and sacrifice go hand in hand apparently.  If there's no sacrifice, is it really generosity?

1) Money - The Magi came bringing expensive gifts; they knew something special was happening, but perhaps they didn't quite understand it all.

2) Time - the shepherds were watching their flocks, when the angels told them the magnitude of what was happening that night.  They abandoned their work, dropped everything to go see.

3) Reputation - Joseph married a pregnant girl, a very humiliating thing to do in Hebrew society; he sacrificed his name and standing among his home and society to be obedient to God's plans.

4) Future - Mary's future was given up to the plans of God for saving mankind.  Being the mother of Christ must have been a not very comfortable life.

5) Life - we see the ultimate life of generosity in Jesus, who lived and died out of love for others (Mark 10:45)

6) Most precious possession - God the Father sent His son for us.  Even greater a sacrifice than giving up life is giving up what you most treasure.

I never thought about the sacrifice of God the Father in the gospel story, but even more than the life of Christ, it shows the magnitude of God's love for us.

"He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?"
-Romans 8:32

So, I'm going to a chiropractor now.  I told myself I would never do that, not after hearing about a vertebral artery dissection from spinal manipulation causing ischemic stroke in someone (a neurologist told me that).  But I'm desperate now, I'll do anything :)

Ahhhhh, my neck feels so good right now, it's almost like I've been drugged.... small risk of stroke's a small pirce to pay for pain relief ;p

And, I probably take enough NSAIDs to lower my risk of thrombosis at least a little.  Heheh.

So,

I just came from a visit to Temple Square, in Salt Lake City, Utah.  I'm here for a conference, and since my back hurts too much for me to ski, I thought I'd go visit.

The place is very scenic, clean, and the people are nice.  They have 'missionaries' that are assigned there for an 18 month interval (they sign up for missions, and the LDS church might send them anywhere in the world), and they are quick to come up and talk to you, show you around.  All very friendly.

So this is what I learned from the experience:

History:
-Joseph Smith lead a group of fellow believers in his faith (in Jesus) away from persecution in Illinois, to settle down in Utah.
-At one point God (and Jesus) appeared to him (both at the same time), telling him to start his own church
-He later on was led to discover golden plates containing ancient writings of Jesus' ministry in the American continents, which were in a foreign (hyroglyphic) language.
-By divine inspiration he translated these writings into the book of Mormon
-After translation he gave these plates to an angel who took them from the earth.

Structure:
-Temples are places of more intimate connection with God; you have to be deemed worthy of going into a temple, by both self-assessment and a bishop
-They go to different buildings (churches?) on Sunday
-If you get high enough on the spiritual ladder, you can be ordained a prophet? priest?, either of the order of Aaron or Melchizedek, which apparently was restarted when John, Peter and James appeared to Joseph Smith and some other guy and ordained them.
-Being a prophet apparently has eternal benefits

Sigh.  After reading some of the verses from the Book of Mormon, they just appear to be paraphrases of verses from the Bible.  They sound 'right', just not original, you know?  Even some of the 'words of prophecy' from the current prophets basically sound like sermons you would hear from a pastor on Sunday.

The girls that took me on the tour knew the party line, but didn't seem to really know the Book of Mormon that well, and really didn't know the Bible at all, even though their informational tour took verses from it.  Maybe I should have debated them, but that didn't seem a very nice thing to do while standing in their Mormon Information Center - I didn't come there looking for a fight.  Might've been fun...

It was convicting though, to see them so invested in the Latter Day Saints faith.  It was also scary to see doctrine from the Book of Mormon intertwined into that of the Bible to create a faith that was just... somewhat off.  Kind of like reading a book, then seeing the movie version of that book, which takes its own liberties.  It's never quite the same...

And, during the organ recital today at the Mormon Tabernacle, the organist played an arrangement of "Fairest Lord Jesus".  Beautifully, too.  Gah, curse them...

"Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar."
-Proverbs 30:5-6