November 11, 2022Today is a day we remember the brave men and women who fought to defend our freedoms. I learned, when I was young, that my grandfather had lost his sense of smell due to mustard gas in the First World War and the father of one of my friends had a large scar on his face due to a wound in the Second World War. To learn more about Canada’s involvement in World War II, please visit: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/defence/caf/militaryhistory/wars-operations/wwii.html
In his book “Mastering Life Before It’s Too Late” Robert J. Morgan examines ten Biblical strategies for a lifetime of purpose. In recent weeks we have looked at the first five patterns: “Listen to a Twelve-Year-Old,” “Redeem the Time,” “Clear the Decks,” “Maximize the Morning” and “Pull Off at Rest Stops.” In the sixth pattern – “Operate on Yourself” – Morgan writes about Evan O’Neill Kane, whose father, Thomas L. Kane, was a major general in the Union Army and was awarded for the bravery he exhibited at the Battle of Gettysburg. Evan’s mother, Elizabeth, was a medical doctor, who inspired Evan to become one of the most innovative surgeons of his day.
Morgan writes: “In the early 1920s, Dr. Kane was convinced that too many surgical patients were being put to sleep during their operations when localized anesthesia should be used instead. He thought the hazards of general anesthesia were greater than most physicians assumed, and he suggested that many patients would do fine during surgery with a local anesthesia. His opinions encountered skepticism, so Kane set out to prove his point.
During his career, Dr. Kane had performed nearly four thousand appendectomies. In those days, removing one’s appendix was considered major surgery requiring a large incision. Kane decided to perform his next appendectomy using only local anesthesia, and he selected his patient carefully. On February 15, 1921, the man was rolled into the operating room. Dr. Kane didn’t put the patient to sleep; instead he applied a local anesthesia and went to work slicing through skin and tissues. He found the appendix, removed it, and sewed the man up. The surgery went well, and the patient assured the medical team he had experienced only minor discomfort.
The name of the patient was Dr. Evan O’Neill Kane. The doctor and the patient were the same. Kane had propped himself up on the operating table and, using mirrors to see the affected area, had removed his own appendix. Other doctors were present to observe the procedure and intervene should anything go wrong, but nothing did. Dr. Kane enjoyed a full recovery and the flurry of notoriety that came with it.”
Morgan continues: “As we go through life, we sometimes become infected and inflamed by certain unhealthy attitudes, toxic habits, and infectious sins. We’re exposed to a lot of spiritual contamination down here below, and we easily succumb to depression, anger, anxiety, discouragement, bitterness, and all the rest. It’s helpful when friends encourage us, and sometimes we need professional counseling. But one of the greatest discoveries we can ever make is learning to operate on ourselves.
The art of strengthening oneself in the Lord is the greatest of all the spiritual disciplines. Sometimes, under the guidance of the Great Physician, we have to open ourselves up, take a look, improve ourselves, talk to ourselves, encourage ourselves, make our own changes, remove an infected attitude or an inflamed habit, and help ourselves become healthier.”
No matter what happens, may we look to the Lord to guide us and help us to walk with Him and encourage others to turn from sin and trust Him.
Scripture for the weekend: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NKJV)
Thought for the weekend: “Christians deprive themselves of their most solid comforts by their unbelief and forgetfulness of God’s promises. For there is no extremity so great but there are promises suitable to it, and abundantly sufficient for our relief in it.” – Samuel Clarke (an 18th-century British pastor)