Bhutto briefly

I figure I should say something, briefly, on Benazir Bhutto, as controversial as a figure as she may have been in Pakistani politics. A friend wondered at me why I was displeased with the news of the assassination because she was a woman, and whether I would be equally upset if it had been Narwar Sharif instead. Of course, it would've been upsetting if her rival had also been killed, but I think it is all the more upsetting knowing that, in the balance of things, it was a man who killed her. Men are the ones who do such things; women, only rarely (and when they do, it is incredibly surprising) so. Men seethingly hate, actively work out their rage, execute brute actions in their anger, and, in politics, do so towards other men (ie. war, suicide bombings, AEDs, etc). Women, of course, also experience this hatred and anger, though in other forms (ie. rape, domestic violence, oppression... did I mention rape and brutality?). To know that some man would have sunk to a new low by assassinating a woman, especially one who, despite her polarizing influence, was still nonetheless a former Prime Minister, and, more significantly, the first woman to reach that level of power in a Muslim country, should be enough to make anyone upset.

Merry Christmas!

One of my favorite cartoon strips, and I've figured out how to put pictures up here! I suspect I must be violating some sort of copyright thing, but I just wanted to share it with everyone.
Merry Christmas!

Some clarification of angst

I was thinking: perhaps this has more to do with the fact that it's Christmas. The story that the (Al)mighty became weak, came to walk in solidarity with the small, and the frail, and the broken. Perhaps it's mulling over our archetypes of Christmas: of the Scrooges of the world giving back in abundance to the Crochetts, of the Grinch giving to the Whos, of the Magi giving gifts to the bastard refugee child that we serve, that makes me wonder about our place in all of this, of our role in reconciling such things.... maybe it's just a timely thought that deserves a good pondering for Christmas...
Merry Christmas.

Angst of the bourgeoisie

One of the things that has really been bothering me over the past month is the issue of class within the church, triggered by a particular comment by a friend, well, a month ago. I know the church already has issues with racial integration and reconciliation, but at least there are efforts in that way to improve that situation. The thing that strikes me, however, is how it is still integration only in a "horizontal", not a "vertical" fashion. How does one move "vertically" without appearing patronizing, or, worse yet, that one is "participating in ministry"? I haven't been able to figure out a way to genuinely and authentically break down class barriers, without it appearing terribly contrived.
This is also combined with being disturbed by the notion that churches have "target markets", that is, certain ethnic groups, or the "young urban professional", or students, or homeless people, or what have you. Is this what we're really all about? If I serve a God that prefers the poor and the oppressed (which, by and large, I am neither, and indeed, I do serve a God who does have that inclination), then how am I actively promoting His views, or am I actively standing in His way? Are we all about reaching "our own" "more effectively" by delineating our "target market"? Are we really reflecting the nature of Kingdom when we do?
I do worry that I (that is to say, an educated, upper-middle class urban professional) perhaps may be part of the problem; that perhaps I am being Pharasaical, in that my "elite class", whether on purpose or not, I exclude, I disinvite, people from the wedding feast...
Of course, this is all my luxury, that I can have existential angst about all of this...

Hospital gafflebab

Now, I suppose, after just having delivered my first baby at the new hospital, I should say something about the new environs - it's a BIG hospital. To get from my new call room to some of the important places I have to be, I actually have to sprint up to 500m to get to where I need to go. This is not ideal in my line of work, but at least there's some adrenaline pumping by the time I get there!
I must say, clearly this hospital was designed for patient "wow factor" in mind, rather than also balancing the needs of the employees as well. What I mean to say is, yes, it's a gorgeous place, and yes, the patient facilities are beautiful and spacious, but the environs in which the health-care workers toil are less than stellar. It's a lot of design planning issues that make it very patient-friendly, but very worker-unfriendly (which, of course, is NOT a good idea long-term; hospitals should be designed to be worker-friendly, perhaps even more so than being patient-friendly).
It's not just me, of course. I've been quite impressed with some of the new equipment we've been given and the bells and whistles that come in the patient rooms. The nurses think I'm weird for how enthusiastic I've been today with all the new toys for patients. However, it has been fun, including hovercraft transfer mats and disco lights for the OR!

Tearing down the ivory tower...

In the rarified air of the ivory towers of universities, I find it quite amazing how there is such a culture difference from institution to institution. Personally, I really despise hoity-toity academic ranks and hierarchy; it drives me nuts. I must say though, since I stand between both the two universities closest to my office, that the culture difference is quite stunning. One is welcoming, collaborative, and wants to hear from other voices. The other: callous, uncaring and certainly an attitude of, "Well, can do you do anything useful for us, or what?". It is striking. It makes me wonder why anyone (including myself) would think the latter is such a wonderful organization...

Films vs movies

I recognize that I am a movie snob. In fact, I rarely enjoy movies; I like films, and I adore documentaries. Most know about the belly-aching I made about having to go see Fantastic Four II: Rise of the Silver Surfer this past summer, and how I was bemoaning and bewailing the fact that I would never get that time back again, but I digress...
It's just funny, in that I noticed an acquaintance of mine has a WICKED collection of DVDs that totally runs up my alley: a lovely mix of some documentaries, some films, and the full extended version of the Lord of the Rings. Very decent. Of course, there's also the Transformers movie, and Star Wars, but I suppose that's because he's a guy, so I will forgive him that... At any rate, I forgot to ask if I could borrow, oh, almost his whole library, last time I was over, and emailed him to see if I could borrow some, which he willingly obliged, if I could list off what I wanted... but now, I can't remember exactly what was in the rack: What to do? Say I'll just take them all, except for Transformers? I think that might be kind of rude...

I also recognize that this is possibly the lamest entry I have ever made on this blog, but I didn't want people thinking that I was neglecting my writing; it's just that I haven't had anything terribly exciting happen in the past few days, that's all. Basically, I've been trying to catch up on labwork and stuff at the office, that's about it... whoo hoo!

Culture shock?

I find it odd that I don't particularly culture shock easily, or, at least, I don't think I do... I seem to have seamlessly slid back into the mundane, everyday humdrum of North American society... the frenetic pace, the blasé materialism, the lack of a collective... that being said, I did find that I was ranting at someone about what "stupid, upper-middle class shits" we all were the other day...

Can't quite figure it out....

Now this is likely just flogging a dead horse, but since I've been thinking about this topic for quite a while now, I thought perhaps I'd try to field some feelings about it. Is our goal really to try to pursue with all of our might that which we are passionately called to, or, are we to be dutiful to whatever situation we should find ourselves in? Is there something 'wrong' when situations or circumstances make us desperately unhappy, or, is that simply a manifestation of a temporary 'trial' that we should patiently endure until things change? Are joy and happiness to be our lot, or are pain and suffering supposed to be the sought-after norm? Any thoughts?