Fifty five years ago!

Dr Frank Garlick and Dr Val Garlick left their roles at the Christian Medical College Vellore in 1970 to shift to stay at Highfield, Kotagiri as a decisive step towards exploring another journey experience in life. 

Dr Garlick was a professor of surgery at CMC Vellore. He along with Val and three children moved from Brisbane to Vellore in response to a sense of urge within, to work in Asia to respond to  a missionary awakening in their lives.

It was while being at CMC for eight years that Frank and Val felt  another urge to support the alumni of the college working in mission hospitals in rural India. In pursuit of that, they left CMC and relocated at Kotagiri, where their children could continue their schooling and Frank was free to travel to mission hospitals in rural India. 

Frank received an invitation from the Union of Evangelical Students of India in 1971 to join its staff to be fully involved to visit medical students and doctors to encourage and support them in their formation and pilgrim journey in the vocation of practice of medicine. 

I recall Frank on this occasion for two reasons. Since his home call, there were enquiries about his seminal contribution in the formation of the Evangelical Medical Fellowship of India. 

The second is to revisit his legacy in understanding the calling associated with  the practice of medicine. 

Let me share three thoughts associated with the calling in the practice of medicine from my association with Frank. 

The first is the ethos of the practice of medicine. What matters in the practice of medicine is addressing the questions of why, how and where we practice medicine. The why speaks about the purpose which motivates a person, how addresses the personal life style one choose in the practice of medicine, where proposes a location where service and self giving become possible to engage opportunities, needs and a person's calling. 

The second is ethics in the practice of medicine. We are required to live as medical professionals wholly given over to attend to the needs of others where personal gain is the least consideration. The integrity in personal conduct and character is of utmost significance. There is a requirement to be honest, transparent and fair in the way we practice medicine. A medical professional promotes health, wellness and prepares a person to experience fullness of life. 

The third is economics in the practice of medicine. The essential feature of a socially just practice of medicine is to make health care affordable and therefore the emphasis is on not-for profit approach. This applies to the fees charged for educating professionals, hospital charges for caring for patients, using technology and pharmaceutical applications in health care, building infrastructure, salary structure for professionals and non-professionals, etc.  In all of these the bottom line is social justice, where the least in the society is also offered affordable health care. 

I remember Frank elaborating on these foundations of ethos, ethics and economics in health care on several occasions!

He practiced this personally in multiple ways. He lived a simple life style. He travelled in sleeper class using the India railways. He offered his services freely. He performed surgeries in mission hospitals not for an income but to use them as an opportunity to equip the doctors in the mission hospital in surgical skills. He lived in simple accommodation while visiting medical colleges to meet medical students. Frank was a pilgrim at heart and in practice, keenly committed to be a follower of Jesus of Nazareth. 

This is the fifty fifth year since Frank and Val left CMC, Vellore to explore 'another call within the call'. Mother Teresa while leaving Loretta convent from being the Principal of the school, to work with poor people living in the streets, to give them a honourable living space, described her decision as a 'call within a call'! 

That is another indication to suggest that life is not a linear journey when one lives with an open heart and mind. What makes me feel touched is the way Frank and Val offered attention to attend to the needs of their children without compromising on anything that they needed during their formative years!

 Dr Val currently lives in Brisbane. 

Some people whisper to our soul from the pages of history. I feel that whisper within !

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Meditation of my heart- -38

 

I wondered on several occasions about the way the birds find shelter when the day becomes cloudy and threatens to rain. The above pictures are of such occasions taken on different days, when the sunlight faded away followed by a cloudy and windy surrounding. 

None of these birds above were visible from a distance. By drawing near to the trees or bush, one could watch these birds, who were mostly hidden by the foliage. 

The indications from the cacophony and the body language were of stress. The silence following this when it rained was noticeable. 

I found that as a message worth pondering upon! 

The silence while in stress!

I found such a silence in the part of Jesus of Nazareth, when He was confronted by a crowd ready to stone a woman who was involved in adultery (John 8:1-11). Jesus looked down and kept writing on the ground. After a while, He looked up and addressed the crowd, 'He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her'! Hearing this, people left one by one leaving the woman unharmed. Jesus sent her away, saying, '...go your way and from now on, sin no more'!

The stressful time is an occasion which for calls a contemplated response as against an agitated response. 

Our responses in stressful situations spring at three levels. 

First is a cognitive response based on facts, reason, and evidence. 

At another level, there is an emotional response of anger, sympathy or  disengagement or indifference.  

There is yet another deeper level of thoughtful or well considered response which can open the door for resolution, diffusion or for initiating a healing process. 

That was how Jesus of Nazareth responded in a stressful situation by being silent not find a way forward that can be restorative and upbuilding. 

Silence in that context was a means for disengagement from the impulsive and reactive behaviour that was the first response of the people around. 

The interior silence helps us to transcend the fret and fury created in stressful situations and find a way to bring peace and concordance, diffusing intimidation, harmful attitude or retaliatory act of  cruelty! 

I remember on one occasion when I was chairing the governing board of an organisation when the discussion on a difficult  matter vertically split the members into a polarised situation. I suggested that we met after ten minutes during which time we remained silent without having any discussion with any one. Following the season of silence when we met, the proposal that came from both the groups was similar paving the way for  resolving the issue under dispute. 

I remember occasions how short spells of silence during family conversations would help, when one feels that the conversation is getting  convoluted without a direction. Such occasions help us to feel connected with ourselves to sense what is beyond the cerebral level of engagement. 

We are endowed with the Spirit of God within us. It is during periods of silence, we become even more aware of this, leading us to the truth beyond what is obvious. 

Most of us would be able to recollect instances of unresolved matters receiving clarity and coherence when we took time to consider or ponder over silently ! 

There is better readiness to face stressful situations, when we become silent to discern! 

M.C.,Mathew (text and photo)

Life, Living, Learning- 17

When I watched this Bulbul in the garden perched in the flight station, I noticed three body postures that made me wonder, whether birds have also a routine they practice during the 'alone times'.

I wonder if they have three exercises they follow during the alone time! 

The first photo is probably a resting posture, which often needs in between flights. It is during that time a bird might groom the body and attend to anything that might make it more flight ready. 

The second photograph seems to indicate an occupied or absorbed state, which we often refer to as reflection time which we take during the in between times of work. For birds, such times are occasions of becoming present by withdrawing from the activities around and waiting for the next move. 

The last three photographs show how the Bulbul was turning in different directions as a planning process for the next flight. 

The three active stages of a Bulbul in the above series of photos suggest how the alone time consists of resting, waiting and planning !

The alone times are personal times to become intimate with oneself! Amidst the setting of the multi-sensory stimuli with which we are associated with at a work setting, a relative closure of such intense activity might be needed two or three times in a day for about five minutes to find the alone time to become present to oneself. 

I first heard about this from a senior friend whom I noticed during the few days we spent together in a conference, staying quiet by himself for five to seven minutes three times in a day. He being a surgeon was in the habit of finding this time for himself to return to a level of wellness and composure from the intensity of attention and vigilance he needed for an earlier operation. It was he who suggested that short in between times for resting, waiting or reflecting and planning would be a good way to have an interior state of comfort and composure.  

It is a practice that gradually became part of the way my day evolves although with interruptions due to being carried away by the flow of events. 

The way we are outside is the reflection of how we are inside! The spirituality of living is living our true self inside and outside. 

I listened to an intensely contested argument about who was responsible for the breakdown of a queue. While the arguments went on, one gentleman confessed that each of us is in hurry to finish our work and return. May be someone was in a need to go back early. Let us be considerate to each other rather than accuse or hurt each other. I was most moved by this state of composure and peace that he bought in at that time. 

Later, he told me that he was quiet to find a way to lessen the tension in the conversations! When he intervened, there was a level of ease and comfort!

He practiced the art of living from inward !

Living outwardly from the being that we are inwardly!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Life, Living, Learning - 16

As I watched this Bulbul perform acrobatics on the branch to look, I wondered what was engaging its attention! I still do not have a clue as to what was in its visual search! 

However its body postures of different moods of body behaviour, it occurred to the that the Bulbul was processing and responding to the information. 

Most birds are actively present to the environment! 

I remember listening to Dr Keith Sanders, who worked at the Duncan  hospital at Raxaul from 1955. He encountered the horrible reality of mortality of 80 to 100 percent of patients who suffered from Tetanus. His attention turned in to initiating several clinical trials to treat Tetnus with intrathecal administration of the Anti-tetanus Serum and perfected that art and science of caring, which reduced the mortality of Tetanus to less than five percent. Till he returned to the UK in 1973 his intense observational skills founded the scientific foundation in treating Tetanus when the central Nervous System was involved. He received a research award with MD from the Bristol University of the Uk for this outstanding contribution. 

What inspired me as I heard his story in 1983, was his sense of enquiry with intense observational skills. He asked questions to lead him further. When he first proposed the use of intrathecal ATS, he received adequate support to continue the investigation as otherwise death was the outcome in most of the situations. 

The second aspect of his work was recording his observations and having them audited by others critically.

The third aspect about him was his sense of responsibility to preserve life and promote wellness. 

Dr Sanders was born in Angola and joined the British Navy at the age of 17 years. He suffered from a ship wreck in 1943, with the ship burning in the Atlantic Ocean, while in voyage with goods from the USA to Britain. He swam holding on the debris and saved two others till finally they were rescued by a boat. It was this experience that became a turning point in his life. He joined to study Dentistry initially and changed over to Medicine since he felt that it would give him an opportunity to sere in a needy situation. 

The question he paused to me was, 'What do you see' ? I had left mainstream involvement in child health to take up child development and rehabilitation and was waiting for clear direction. It was Dr Sanders who told me that, 'keep looking, keep understanding and keep exploring' ! That helped me to look beyond to create an interface between parents and professionals while engaged with developmentally challenged children to evolve a partnership plan to support children and families. 

This story of Dr Sanders came back to me  when I watched the Bulbul bird looking with an intent purpose from above. 

Dr Sanders was one who was intently engaged in looking, understanding and exploring!

Life is a voyage of  looking and discovering to live with a purpose!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Knowing your child- 17

The above five birds behave differently when compared to the adult birds of their species. They are stationed in and around the place for most part of the day. They take short flights ; their bid calls are short, subdued and occasional; when they feed they take longer time and stay at the feeding table resting in between. When the sunbird in the first photo feeds, it rests on the flowers unlike the other sunbirds which can feed by fluttering in the air. 

They are beyond infancy, but not fully adults. The parent birds were still watching over the juvenile Barbet and Tree pie birds, especially during feeding time. The birds begin their independent journey as soon as they are able to fly and feed themselves. 

Most of them have this transition carefully watched by one or both parent birds. 

The ability to move about independently is the requirement to move towards independence!

Often the birds begin their solo experience before they become an adult bird. 

The pre-school period of a child is a transition time. At about five years most children go to a school. Some might join a pre-school at three years. Some begin their lives in a creche during infancy and move to a day care when a toddler. The transitions take place at different ages for children by the time they are five or six years of age. 

The constancy of parenting attention in the pre-school years is not consistent for many children. 

Ther are five developmental processes taking place in the pre-school years. The physical growth, emotional growth, cognitive growth, social growth and rational growth. In fact they are foundational for future abilities, behaviour, conduct, temperament and formation of childhood. 

The theory of the Multiple intelligences proposes a wider scope of promoting child development in the pre-school years. The theory of Dr Howard Gardener of the confluence of intelligences in children gives parents a spectrum of opportunities  in overseeing the developmental formation of children. 

The intelligences include, Linguistic, Logical-mathematical, Spatial, Body-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal and naturalist orientation. Each child possesses a unique integration of each of these intelligences, some dormant and some explicit with varying levels of expressions. 

I presume that this in itself is a major reason for parents to be even more intense on their focus on parenting in the pre-school years. 

A child is a treasure entrusted to each parent. 

I wonder how many parents sit down after children go to bed each day to write a journal about their children ! If parents can develop the habit of writing a journal on events and experiences of each  week, then parents would get to know the unfolding of the personhood of that child. The tendency is to engage the child when there is an event, or instruction or correction. That is a limited knowledge of a child. But when parents write a journal of a child after combined sharing about the observations of the child , it becomes a profile of the way a child is becoming. 

The becoming process that parents discover about the child provides the pathfinder for parents to guide the child in the way he or she can proceed. 

A the end of the year, parents would have 52 entires in their journal on each child for parents to have an intimate appreciative audit of the child's developmental formation. The journal can have sketches and photographs to have it made as a rich and colourful source to share it with the children periodically for them to know for themselves who they are becoming. 

Many parents have a baby book for their child, but entires often stop by the time a child is one year. My proposal is to extent it to the adolescent years. So parents become authors 'of the  formative journey'  of their children by being diligently and intimately involved with them. 

Parenting needs greater attention, as the prospect of who a child can be, if foreseen early enough, then parents can invest correspondingly in the evolution of a child towards the adolescent years. 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

The morning ritual!

A bulbul greeted me from Daphne's Kennel yard and turned back to give bird calls. Soon its pair arrived and together they moved to the feeding table in our garden! This ritual happens a few times a day. 

Birds caring for each other is usual. 

That is how they try out suitability for courtship !

These are decisive and defining behaviours by which most birds try out the suitability for courtship!

As I listen to some conversations, I realise how important is communicative behaviour between a husband and wife. 

It is one thing to feel affectionate towards each other, but it is yet another thing to express it to each other in way that adds to the endearing experience. 

The awareness of the presence of the spouse and expressing one's dependence on each other is a language of the heart. It is one way of conveying the feeling of being valued and needed!

The avian language of such an intimacy is explicit in behaviours such as co-feeding.  It is important for the spouses to discover mutually edifying expressions of affection and intimacy as a normal process. Anna and I have a habit of reading to each other, although sometimes it might get interrupted. That is a time to hear what is read and listen to the movements within and share it to receive resonances with each other. 

To add a touch of sacredness and solemnity to relationships between spouses, it is necessary to have experiences which integrate, cognitive, emotional domains through communicative rituals!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Fearful existance!

A few photographs from the collection of photos taken in our garden about two months ago. 

I was observing the body behaviour of Bulbuls to sounds and sights in the garden from large collection of photos 

The above alert body responses bordering to an anxiety stat followed the chirps of a Squirrel in the tree close to the cable. 

The birds flew away when the chirps persisted. 

They are not used to fight, but to flight !

They do not even showed signs of resistance!

I was reminded of people who are weak and helpless in Gaza, who do not have strength to speak or resist!

How long their neighbour, suppress and frighten them!

Such people, who live subdued due to economic or social or political or religious oppression, are also in our neighbourhood !

I took time to revisit experiences of fear that originate within me in certain situations. since retirement form full time professional work two years ago, I have had a lingering fear of not being adequately occupied or needed! Looking back, I find that was disproved. I have had different writing commitments to complete, projects pending that needed closure and involvements with people meaningful enough to be stimulating and refreshing happened naturally. 

Fear can be subdued or diffused by anticipatory preparation. I have a state of anxiety before setting out for a travel. I missed a flight in 1988 because I got update and did not have enough time to reach the air port. I missed part of the meeting that I was to attend. 

How one such an event can remain rooted to affect inner wellness! 

Fear resides deep within. No wonder, Jesus of Nazareth, repeated the phrase, 'Fear not' during His discourses! It is natural to be fearful, but it is also possible to diffuse its emotional impact upon us! Now I feel lot more freed from travel phobia as I knowing my tendency to be dragged by an earlier experience, can remind myself of all the travels for which I arrived on time. 

Befriending our fear is the beginning to feel freed of fear! 

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)