WHEN a doctor's or a minister's family becomes a team for God it reaches its zenith, and among the many husband - and - wife teams around the world none has made a greater contribution to medical science than Drs. Paul and Margaret Brand of the Christian Medical College at Vellore, India. For twenty years these noble partners have been bringing hope and rehabilitation to thousands of unfortunates suffering from the dreaded scourge leprosy. Sometimes this disease is styled "the blackest of all human diseases." What Dr. Paul has done in restoring crippled limbs and reactivating fingers by connecting them to healthy nerve impulses in the patient's forearm may give him a place among the most honored names in medicine.
His wife, Dr. Margaret, has concentrated largely on the blindness so often associated with Hansen's Disease. Her part in this team relationship has been outstanding. At times she has performed as many as one hundred operations in a day. These highly skilled surgeons are performing a tremendous service, not only for the sufferers in India but for lepers all over the world.
What led the Brands to dedicate their lives to medical missionary work? Their hearts were moved by the hopeless outlook of 14 million known lepers. To restore these people to a full life of service is a joy greater than can be expressed in words. A report of their work was published in the Saturday Review of October, 1964.
Some features of their work seem almost unbelievable. A visit to this institution is an unforgettable experience as well as an inspiration, for one senses that the selfless service of Drs. Paul and Margaret Brand is the spirit that moves the whole staff. Several of our Adventist doctors have served Vellore Medical College with distinction. There surely is no greater work than to be a medical missionary. In The Ministry of Healing we read: "The physician who desires to be an acceptable co-worker with Christ will strive to become efficient in every feature of his work. He will study diligently, that he may be well qualified for the responsibilities of his profession, and will constantly endeavor to reach a higher standard, seeking for increased knowledge, greater skill, and deeper discernment."—Page 116.
True Medical Missionaries
"The true medical missionary physician will be an increasingly skillful practitioner." —Ibid., p. 117.
Then, applying the admonition of the apostle Paul to physicians, we read: "Let the younger physicians, 'as workers together with Him [the Chief Physician], . . . receive not the grace of God in vain, . . . giving no offense in anything, that the ministry [of the sick] be not blamed: but in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God.' 2 Corinthians 6:1-4."—Ibid., p. 116.
From the same pen comes this clear instruction to us all as laborers together with God: "Every worker should labor intelligently, with an eye single to the glory Of God. He should take special care not to abuse any of his God-given faculties."—Evangelism, p. 658.
"Ministers of age and experience should feel it their duty, as God's hired servants, to go forward, progressing every day, continually becoming more efficient in their work, and constantly gathering fresh matter to set before the people. Each effort to expound the gospel should be an improvement upon that which preceded it. Each year they should develop a deeper piety, a tenderer spirit, a greater spirituality, and a more thorough knowledge of Bible truth."—Ibid., p. 662.
This appeal for a tender spirit and deeper spirituality is significant. As professional men and women we are constantly challenged to find better and quicker ways of treating disease. Yesterday's answers are not good enough for today's perplexities. Dr. Hammill, of Andrews University, tells of a group of mountain climbers at a lodge who were debating what they were needing in the way of equipment. An old mountaineer was standing by and someone asked him what he would advise. His was a classical answer: "The more you have in your head the less you need in your knapsack." But a medical missionary needs more than something in his head. God can use an atheist, a spiritually indifferent person, to develop a new vaccine, but to bring new vision to broken men and women He can use only dedicated Christians. We need more than medical and academic know-how. We need the Spirit of God. A beautiful tribute is paid to Luke when he is called "the beloved physician."
The Spirit of Greatness
One of America's truly great men was Abraham Lincoln. While he and his wife were not exactly close-knit partners, yet there were commendable things about each of them. Mrs. Lincoln was ambitious, and that could well have played a part in his advancement in the political world. But it was the tender heart and genial spirit of the man that appealed to the multitude. It is said that he had unusually long arms, that when he stood erect his fingers touched his knees. That may have been so. But it was not his physiological differences that made him great; it was his psychological genius and his universal love. His warm spirit of friendship gave his wife deep concern, especially when his cronies tramped over her lovely carpets in the White House. "His heart is as big as his arms are long," she once exclaimed. And that was true.
The world has long forgotten Mrs. Lincoln and her carpets, but Abraham Lincoln is loved the world around. I have seen his picture in government offices in India, where he seems to be regarded almost as a patron saint. Even in the Soviet Republic he is held in some veneration. One of the finest statues to this great personality stands just outside Westminster Abbey in London. He was not the greatest businessman, not even the greatest executive, but he was a great lover of mankind, and that love extended to even his political enemies. It is said of Lincoln that he never forgot a kindness but never remembered a wrong. Among his immortal sayings was this: "I feel sorry for the man who cannot feel the lash when it is laid on the other fellow's back." To feel what others feel and to enter into their need is true Christianity.
Make Enemies Friends
When the War between the States was at its height a special group had gathered in Washington for counsel. When the President in his kindly way expressed concern for the people of the South a woman rose and with flashing eye said, "I think the President should understand that he is expected to destroy our enemies, not sympathize with them."
With quiet dignity Lincoln replied: "Madam, when I make my enemies my friends, have I not destroyed them?" No more needed to be said.
It is not the cleverest doctor nor the most eloquent preacher that grips the community, but the one who knows how to love, who finds a way of caring for the orphan and the widow, who knows how to comfort the brokenhearted and speak peace to the lonely, the destitute, and the delinquent. When there is practical self-sacrificing love for the good of others in the family circle, in the neighborhood, in the church, then the world sees Christianity in action.
Heaven Reflected in Our Homes
When our homes are filled with the atmosphere of heaven, unbelievers will come to know that God, and He alone, is love. No human being is love. We can and should be lovable. The greatest argument in favor of Christianity is a loving and lovable Christian.
We are all aware of the two Greek words for love—eros and agape. The first refers to human love; the second to divine love. When the creature takes the place of the Creator, that is erotic love and can quickly turn to hate, and the partner of our choice is seen to be standing on feet of clay. But when the eros is eclipsed by the agape, then life is seen in a new dimension, and the question of incompatibility can never arise. "Incompatibility" is a strange word, for whoever saw two people perfectly compatible all the time?
It is tragic to see one setting off in search of a new partner, under the assumption that he or she can supply what God alone can give. That is futile. Such a relationship becomes little more than a series of zeros. When we look to our heavenly Father to supply our needs, all other interests become secondary. Life is more than meat, said Jesus, for life is made up of relationships with greater values than material things. Life consists not only of what we possess but what possesses us. Love as God intended is not only a gift, it is a discovery and a way of living. It is not something we merely find, it is something we create. Yet love can be crushed in a moment. Cultivate it and it will blossom more and more until eternity.
Human love should be but the vestibule for divine love. It is a divine impulse that moves a man and a woman to establish a home together. But not even God can make a couple fully successful in marriage without their loyal cooperation. If marriage is to continue to be a fountain of joy, then let us hold out our cups. But be sure not to hold them upside down.
How love grows during a lifetime is far more important than how it felt at the beginning. To keep the lamp of love aflame two words are important—"you" and "always." Did you ever notice that all love songs have the ring of eternity about them? No one ever said at the wedding altar, "I'll love you and honor you for two and a half years, or twenty-two and a half years." No, it is "forever." The years bring changes, however, and if a package is to be judged by its wrapping alone, we should not be surprised if the tinsel is tarnished. But "silver threads among the gold" can give a deeper meaning to life.
Some strain and tension are inevitable from the start, for all growing things have tension. Suns and planets are held in their courses by gravity, but gravity is really tension. Tension is one of the laws of life. When everyone is thinking alike, it may be that no one is really thinking. Nothing is more tragic than to see two good people pulling against each other. But it, is always inspiring to see two people pulling together and at the same time laying hold of divine strength and grace to give vigor to their efforts.
A boy who was sent to mow the lawn harnessed his dog to the mower. But every now and then the dog would stop and start barking. A passer-by noticed this and said to the boy: "Why does your dog stop pulling?"
The boy's answer was superb: "Oh, he can't pull and bark at the same time so he stops pulling because he'd sooner bark." We have seen couples like that. Others do not bark, they wander.
In Deuteronomy 12:13 we read: "Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest." To expend one's time at every wayside altar is to sow for a tragic harvest. The sacredness of the home is vital. We must not forget that life is largely a matter of selection and emphasis. Then let us always apply ourselves to the most important.
Keeping Home Aglow
The demands of our profession are naturally great, but let us determine to keep our social and family life so in balance that those nearest us will never need to feel hurt because we seem to take them for granted. Homemaking is love-making broadened in a program that not only takes in the whole family but influences the whole community. There is not a home or a professional practice or a church in the world that cannot be improved if done in the right way.
Home must be a sacred place where the family circle can bow together in worship every day. When the Lord established worship in Israel He put the sanctuary in the midst of the people. And, of course, we remember the structure. There was the outer courtyard, then came the holy place, and then the Most Holy Place. This inner apartment was reserved for the high priest alone. Now let us think of our homes in this way. The courtyard is where we meet our friends. We can join with them in wholesome fellowship. We can approach the altar and associate with them in worship, but then there is the holy place where the family of priests officiated. Let that represent our homes. But even then there was the Most Holy Place, which was kept inviolate. We could let that represent the marriage relation in the home. For marriage is not a fusion, it is a communion, and communion can be richer with the ripening years.
The Scripture indicates that the husband and father is the head of the home, but the wife and mother is the heart of the home.
