The title of a book that I am reading about Dr. Paul Farmer - a doctor who started a rural health clinic in Haiti several decades ago and has since established health clinics for the poor all over the world...I was told by a friend that this book would be lifechanging, but for some reason, assumed that this meant because she was a doctor - it probably applied more to her than to someone like me. However, now having gotten about half-way thru it, I realize that this is much more than a story about a doctor - it's a story about someone extraordinary; and more so because of his integrity, commitment, dedication and sense of outrage at the things that make people sick, hungry and poor. I can't quite articulate right now what this book is doing to me on the inside, but there are some profound changes going on - especially with regard to how and why I go about making choices about my life and career in the way that I do...it's a fine line between seeking one's own glory and desiring God's. Honestly, I know many who profess belief in Christ (myself included) who often pursue certain paths for their own comfort, security and well-being rather than seeking that for others as for themselves...rather than serving God. This is the ultimate, singular question and issue that I've been wrestling with recently - the question of seeking God's glory rather than my own - wondering whether my choices are really about serving Him or pursuing my own agenda. I have to say, at critical junctures, God has pierced my heart with an awareness of the injustices that exist in this world and has given me a desire to do something about it...but along the way, it's hard not to get distracted by 'shiny' objects. The objects of success, approval in other's eyes, status, importance, achievement, money.
In Paul Farmer's life and work - as narrated in Tracy Kidder's book, Mountains Beyond Mountains, I have gotten a glimpse of someone who has a pure heart - one who is driven to serve the poor because he cares. It's absolutely disturbing and amazing - it makes me want to get up, pray and go. Where, I'm not quite sure - but sitting in an office writing policy papers becomes a lot less meaningful when I see that the real work of building God's kingdom is rooted in an incarnational love for others - particularly for those who the world has deemed less important or even worth ignoring altogether....The most meaningful times in my life, looking back, have been those where I was doing something completely menial in service to a community...teaching inner city kids in New Haven, working as the Director of the US Grant Foundation during college; volunteering at the Bowery Mission for the homeless; talking to refugees and displaced civilians in northern Uganda. These moments were the most meaningful - not because of what I did, but what I came to see in the faces of people who knew what it meant to suffer and yet hoped and lived in dignity despite their circumstances. I never felt more fulfilled than when I was in community, serving, loving, helping others, being helped myself.
Lord, help me. I know this is what I want to do with my life - I picture myself back in Africa perhaps or maybe even in an urban slum - who knows - but I know that living a life of complacency is what I dread most.
The photo above is of a child cured of TB by Paul Farmer in Haiti. The book does a wonderful job illustrating the real care and love this man has for everyone he meets.
This video, shows a clip of a speech he gave at Xavier University in Ohio.
Hope his example proves inspiring to you as it did for me and countless others.
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