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Friday, April 16, 2010

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
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3 comments:

  1. "He cared" Everyone wants caring ... some days more...some days less, nonetheless we all desire to know someone cares and when you receive it you know, "I am not alone!"

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  2. "Her quest for truth was accomplished"
    Most of my life has been one of seeking answers to the existential questions of life. The churches answers just never quite made it. So....I had to go out of the box to find the answers. The journey involved a psychiatric hospitalization, a divorce and a mentally handicapped child, death of a child, death of a second husband. They have all enhanced my faith and belief.

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  3. "She read a lot of books."

    'nuf said?! How much more blessed could I be?

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