Sometimes you can be oblivious to a reality even though you’ve been informed about it.

… That statement might need a little explanation. 

Recently I needed to see a doctor. Though there is lots of news concerning the deficiencies in our medical system, it didn’t hit me until I tried to use the system.

In my previous post I wrote about poking myself in the ear with a Q-tip (read here). Well, after several days – a week, to be precise – I decided to make an appointment with my doctor.

I thought it would be as simple as phoning the doctor’s office to make an appointment – boom, done. Instead I was told I couldn’t get in to see my doctor for a couple of weeks! 

The receptionist and I thought maybe I should try a quicker solution, but it wasn’t an emergency so going to the hospital didn’t seem like the right approach. 

The decision was made to try the after hours walk-in clinic my doctor’s office is connected to. Even though the words “after hours” didn’t have a good ring to them, at least I could go that day. I was told to go right when it opened to make sure I got into the clinic. My wife, Lily, then warned me to get there even earlier. 

When I arrived twenty minutes before the walk-in clinic opened, I was fourth in line. 

I had twenty minutes to kill standing outside in line to get in to see a doctor.

I‘ve stood in lines before. One time back in 1974, I stood in line on Yonge Street in Toronto outside A&A Records to purchase tickets to see Elton John in concert. Now that was standing in line! We were about ninth in line and waited from 9 pm to around 7 am the next morning when the tickets went on sale. 

… The stories of that night could fill a few blog posts. But that was late summer and warm outside.

Not the other day, standing twenty minutes outside in damp, 0° Celsius weather. 

The line of people grew and there were several parents with children, young children and babies, lining up to see a different kind of rock star – a doctor.

I couldn’t help but think that the sight was something you would see in a war-torn, third world country. Sick people were standing out in the cold to get treatment for their sicknesses. 

I used to stand in line to play shinny hockey, but at least we could stand inside the foyer of the arena in a climate-controlled temperature. 

When they did let us in – one by one, after we signed in and took a number – you really got a sense of how sick some people were. There was a constant noice of babies, children and adults coughing and sniffling. 

I don’t think sick people should have to wait outside in the cold to get medical help. There has to be a better way.

I’d heard that there are deficiencies in our medical system but, until yesterday, I didn’t really get it. 

Here’s the thing: We can hear about God, about what Christ did on the cross, but still be oblivious to it. It is when we take the time to investigate the reality of what God has done for us that we really are able to get it. Seek who Christ is and what He has done. Then let that knowledge impact your life.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you know about but don’t really know? Leave your comments and questions below.

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