Month: March 2018

For the past several weeks, I have been assisting my daughter as she goes to school. A recent injury prevented her from carrying her very heavy backpack, sometimes weighing up to twenty pounds. She enlisted the aid of my wife and I to transport her to and from school and carry her backpack to her first class. Between classes, she was fortunate to have her friends assist her. Of course, this wasn’t necessary if she simply used a rolling duffel bag or a backpack with wheels, similar to the type that airline travelers use. Not an option! My daughter immediately informed me that it was definitely uncool, even if it was practical.

 

I smiled and understood. When I was my daughter’s age, I had a similar aversion to certain practical accessories. I, and nearly all of my classmates, would carry our books and folders under one arm. On some days, the lopsided stack was four textbooks thick. My parents would shake their heads and ask me, “Don’t you want to put your books in a bag?” Exactly mirroring my own daughter’s response, I shook my head and told them it wasn’t cool. Sigh! The sins of the father are indeed inheritable!

 

…In God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?

Psalms 56:11 (ESV)

 

I lament the many times in my youth I took the more difficult path in life, only because I was more concerned about appearances and how others would view my behavior. It was not just bags or books, but extended to my choice of television shows, hobbies, even my political views. In college, I confessed and repented of my sins, and accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. God began to change my heart and revealed to me that the only person I needed to please was Him. I still struggle with being preoccupied with how others view me rather than focusing on how God views me. I am a sinner, redeemed and rescued by God by the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. God accepts me as His Child, clothed in the sanctifying light of Jesus!

 

Not an option!

 

God’s approval is all I need to be cool!

 

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.

 

The Jerusalem Syndrome. 

 

It describes a phenomenon that affects first-time visitors to the city of Jerusalem. Regardless of religious persuasion, some visitors may experience a religious-themed psychosis, delusions, and/or obsessive ideas about religion. They may wander away from their tour groups to journey alone to revered religious sites, begin reciting Bible verses, and even start preaching and experiencing Messianic visions.

 

Though it is not officially recognized as a psychiatric disease by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (aka DSM), published by the American Psychiatric Association, nearly all researchers agree this is a psychosomatic illness with very real signs and symptoms. Others have drawn connections to other seemingly related events, such as the Stendhal syndrome, with similar physical and hallucinatory visions affecting first-time visitors to Florence, Italy. Researchers have also suggested that some individuals experiencing this syndrome may have an antecedent history of mental illness. But in many cases, there is no history of mental illness. The syndrome resolves by leaving the city or by receiving supportive medical care. 

 

..But I have chosen Jerusalem that my name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.

2 Chronicles 6:6 (ESV)

 

Why Jerusalem? Why not Mecca? Why not Mathura? For reasons known only to God, He chose Jerusalem as the fulcrum of Judeo-Christian history and arguably, the world. Thus, it IS special and it is not surprising that the human mind can project and extract such extravagant visions of the city. 

 

I have never been to Jerusalem, though I sincerely hope to visit the city and Israel someday. Whether I will experience the Jerusalem Syndrome remains to be seen. However, I have no doubt I will be inspired. Jerusalem may represent many ideals and aspirations for different faiths and cultures. All who visit and live in Jerusalem will learn that this city is not a magical mystical tour but a destination with a far greater and eternal purpose. 

 

At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they shall no more stubbornly follow their own evil heart.

Jeremiah 3:17 (ESV)

 

The Jerusalem syndrome does exist, but not in the way physicians have characterized it. God has revealed that all who come to Jerusalem should repent of their sins and call upon Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. 

 

This is the true Jerusalem syndrome…and I am eternally grateful that I have been afflicted with it!

 

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life. 

Several years ago, a medical student and I participated in a dermatopathology elective together. During his high school and undergraduate college years, he achieved some success as a concert pianist. My love of music was an easy bridge to many animated conversations about classical music. I was intrigued by what characteristics make one concert pianist stand out from others and asked him if he could illustrate the nuances of great performances. Eagerly accepting the challenge, he brought in two recordings of a well-known Chopin piano concerto, performed by two master pianists. We listened to one recording without comment; the mellifluous tones filled my office. He then played the second recording. Juxtaposed in this manner, subtle differences emerged, but I was unsure if they were relevant. After the musical passages were completed, my student smiled and asked me, “So what did you think?”

 

“The first recording…” I hesitatingly began. “The pianist took it at a much faster pace. He even had a louder volume. Am I on the right track?”

 

“Good! Good!” My student was ebullient. “What else?”

 

I again hesitated, unsure if what I was hearing was relevant. “For the second pianist, there was a slight pause after he completed the first phrase in the opening passage. The first pianist did not pause and played through it.” Seeking affirmation, I queried my student, “Is this significant?”

 

“Yes! Yes!” The student leaped to his feet. “This is what makes him such a master at interpretation. That slight pause! It captures your attention!”

 

How subtle, I reflected! A slight pause, almost imperceptible, had I not been listening for it. How many other subtleties of the performance did I miss?

 

And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.

1 Kings 19:11-12 (ESV)

 

For most of my life, God needed to break through my pride and stubbornness, and hit me with a spiritual two-by-four. But God speaks to me and all of us in many different ways. I hear Him when I am experiencing pain and sadness or pleasure and happiness. These feelings are palpable and not easily missed. It is in the quieter moments, pauses in the cacophony of life, that I may miss His voice and guidance. 

 

A slight pause, a low whisper. How many other subtleties of God’s guidance have I missed? How many times have I shouted, demanding an answer from God, when He was quietly whispering to me?

 

Lord, help me to calm and humble myself to hear You speaking to me when You are whispering.

 

Amen!

 

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.