Did you Hear the One About the Gastroenterologist?

Rachel Remen tells of visiting a historic graveyard in Canada, where she came across a headstone with this inscription:

“Here lies George Brown, born a man, died a gastroenterologist”
                   Kitchen Table Wisdom, p. 42

I know, I know.  Like yours, my first thoughts were, “How pathetic that this guy ultimately defined himself by what he did for work.  And if that was all there was to him, then yes, it is sad.  

But maybe this as well.  Maybe George Brown was a gastroenterologist who cared deeply for his vocation and the people he served in that vocation.  Maybe there were hundreds and hundreds of people that experienced relief from painful digestive disorders because of George Brown.  I have experienced enough of my own to be grateful for the George Browns of this world.

I would want to speak to the headstone editor, if there was such a thing in Canada back then.  The problem is how the inscription reads, as if George began as a man and then shed that humanity to be a gastroenterologist.

It is when we are able to bring our full selves to work that it becomes a vocation.


Reflection Question:
What do you want inscribed on your headstone?


by Doug Wysockey-Johnson
(To comment on this blog, simply click the title of the blog, scroll to bottom, and write your
comment in the box provided. You can post anonymously, or using your name by typing it at the end of your post.)