Gordon Ramsey and the Gospel

Confession time.  I LOVE total transformation shows. Love them.  I love seeing a total disaster renewed into something awesome in one hour increments.  Whether it be a house, a person, a fashion sense, a restaurant or a hotel, it matters not, I will watch until the after is revealed. I think there is just something in these stories of redemption that resonate with us.  Last night my husband and I were watching 'Hotel Hell', which is apparently the next great thing from Gordon Ramsey, famed British critique and hot head.  And I realized something quite surprising.

Gordon Ramsey might just understand the elements of the gospel better than many present day pastors.

I've noticed a theme on these Gordon Ramsey shows.  When he first comes in he is brutal.  He knows that if the people he is working with don't fully recognize the true nature and extent of their problem, they will never do better.  And the people initially are resistant, offended, and often very angry. They start saying things like "who the beep are you to come into my restaurant/hotel, and tell me how to run it??' 'You think you're so great because you have some big fancy restaurant'.  They refer to him in their interviews with words like "hate" and "detest" and "a-hole".  Never mind the fact that most of them are near bankruptcy and asked for him to come.

Finally, the conflict comes to a head, and the owner is put into a place where they can no longer hide from the painful facts of their failures.  They are sad and devastated.  But they are also humbled. They suddenly start listening to Gordon's advice and seeing the wisdom in his suggestions. Gordon's persona softens and he becomes kind and encouraging. Then they get the free gift of a made over establishment and a new menu, along with extra training.  And for many of them it marks a new beginning, one in which they go from failure to success, despair to joy.

According to the gospel, each and every one of us is our own little kitchen nightmare.  Maybe we know we aren't doing so hot and wouldn't mind some help. But what we really want is someone to come tell us we are doing the best we can with what we have, that we aren't really that bad, and then to give us some helpful tips and maybe a couple of steps to help us become better.  But the gospel comes in and tells us exactly what we don't want to hear. It tells us we are not okay, it points out our sin and our failure.  If you've ever read Jesus' so called Sermon on the Mount it's like a scathing Gordon Ramsey lecture minus the British accent and curse words.  And Jesus offended a lot of people.

But if after that you come face to face with who you really are, with your sin and failure, accepting it for what it really is and no longer justifying or minimizing it but instead are grieved and humbled by it, an amazing thing happens.  The gospel softens.  Suddenly it is encouraging and kind.  And then comes the free gift of grace.  That forgiveness and salvation of our souls.  Giving our hearts a beautiful new look and a brand new beginning.

So, Gordon, I'm sure you didn't mean to - but thanks for reminding me of the greatest Story of transformation and redemption - the One to which all the others can only allude - even if unintentionally.

You Might Be An ER Nurse....

IF:

You have ever carried a severed finger around your place of business chuckling diabolically as you show it to all of your co workers.

You have ever had a picture of gnarly wounds or things stuck in/on non traditional places on your iphone.

You have ever pretended to drink out of a (full) urinal.

You have ever wished out loud for a cardiac arrest patient to come in because "you're bored".

You have ever thought it was a perfectly reasonable thing to do to agree to come in to work at 3am. And then proceed to work until 7 pm.  And do it multiple times.

You have ever given report to another nurse via charades.

You have dated and/or are married to law enforcement or an EMT/paramedic

 You have ever said the words, "Hey, no, you can't pee there!"

Or the words, "Oh, let's get that gown back on, shall we?"

You've given and/or taken report on a patient over the phone while taking a quick pee break.

You've ever chased a semi naked patient down the street.

Saying 'wow that was really awful' about a trauma case also has the unspoken meaning of, 'but kind of awesome'.

You love/hate/relish/detest your job every day all in one day.

Through The Kaleidoscope



It's always been interesting to me how different people, surroundings, and situations bring out different sides of people.  It's the same person with the same personality, but twist the circumstances and social setting a little bit, and they can look very different. Like a kaleidoscope. The same elements making different pictures.

Of course I see that the best with myself, because I'm with myself in all my different settings and situations.  There have been times when parts of my personality surface that surprise people, because they've only seen a certain side of me and understandingly surmised that must be the grand total.   I've been the quiet, awkward girl and the outgoing socialite. I've been the one with nothing to say and the one with too much to say.  I've been the clown and the stoic.  I've been insecure and I've been confident. I'm different at work than I am at home, different with old friends than with new.

You may not know this, but one of the worst things you can comment to a quiet person is about how quiet they are.  Because what they hear is not 'you're so quiet!', but 'you lack social skills and are probably quite dull'.   Most 'quiet' people I've known are actually highly entertaining when they are in a setting and with people that they are comfortable with. And they are often very interesting. You just have to twist the kaleidoscope .

All that to say, humans are fascinating. Never assume that you've got someone pegged, because we all develop a variety of new shades as the light shifts.

The Story and the Struggle

What if your life were a book? Would you want to read it?  That was a partial premise of a book I recently finished. It proposed that the things that make stories meaningful are the same sorts of things that make lives meaningful, and if those elements are lacking in your life, you should rethink some of your scenes.  It also talked about how in movies and stories you have conflict and resolution and you have a character who by the end of the story has either revealed who they really are or have been transformed by the conflict into someone new.  The author states that these things resonate with us because that is true of life. 

In life we have conflict and are longing for resolution.  And throughout our lives we are either being revealed for what we really are, or are being transformed by our conflicts, for good or bad.   The book made me re think in some ways the way I view struggle.  None of us like to struggle.  We like comfort. We like things to be easy.  But what if living a comfortable, easy life implies that you never do anything that really matters? Is that a worthwhile trade off?

While as humans we hate struggle, in some ways we also relish it.  That's why we have athletes.  I doubt any athlete "enjoys" the pain of training.  But you bet they enjoy the victories that training brings.  Climbing mountains is painful, but the struggle makes the view that much more beautiful.  It seems in many ways enduring pain can often magnifiy beauty and wonder when we come out on the other side of it.  Someone who hikes up a mountain certainly experiences the view in a different way then the one who drove.

Often suffering seems meaningless and we wonder why God allows it.  And although I believe the answer to that is involved, I wonder if one of the reasons is because God knows that when we finally come out on the other side, when we leave this life behind us, that the splendor of heaven will be a million times what it would have been because we reached it through suffering.  And maybe some of the people who suffer the most in this life will be the ones who will enjoy the next the most? And who can cross the finish line with pride who didn't fight to finish the race?

Of course, if this life is all there is then that is a false hope.  But I don't believe it is.  The eternity in my heart whispers that we are part of a greater Story.  And I believe that all of our struggle in this present time will someday make all of this the greatest story ever told.

Common Grace

So, I just got back from Kauai. I know. Poor me. As it was my first visit to a tropical island of any sort, I was left completely astounded at the beauty of it. I've seen beautiful things - after all the sun does come out in Washington once a year or so - but never have I seen turquoise water. I didn't know water could naturally have so many shades of blues and greens. With or without clouds! In Washington if the sky is grey, the water is grey.  I felt like I needed a couple more eyes to appropriately and fully take in the vast awesomeness of it.

As I was walking the shoreline of the "island's most treacherous beach" (which we swam in - we saw the death tally sign on our way back) and taking in the beauty of the water and the framing cliffs, I started thinking about common grace. 'Common grace', by the way, is a term used by theologians that means the goodness of God that extends to any and everyone.  And it struck me, maybe for the first time, how completely lavish God is.

Here in our world we have some of the most astounding things.  How many natural masterpieces do we each experience in a lifetime? From sunsets to butterflies to palm tree branches in the wind to mountain ranges to lightning.  And it's all free.  Whether you're smart or stupid, beautiful or ugly, rich or poor, religious or atheist, good or evil, there it is. A message from our Creator, a gift of His astounding grace.  How sad that we are often too wrapped up in ourselves to really notice its glory or to feel the beckoning of its Artist.

I sat later in the soft sand, composed of worn down coral and sea shell, and wondered about God. And I wondered if all the beauty I saw was maybe just a postcard.  A picture and a foreshadowing of all He has in store, but like the reality that a picture represents, full of realness and dimension unspeakable.

Love, Law, and Freedom

"I run in the path of your commands, for you set my heart free."

Psalm 119:32

I got to thinking the other day (as I was slightly transgressing the speed limit) about law.  Not exactly a word that gives you fuzzy feelings or inspires great prose.  But even though I didn't really want to go the speed limit, I was realizing that I'm glad for them.  And for traffic laws in general.  Because if they didn't exist, driving would be pandemonium. And dangerous. And it would be hard to get any where.  Which got me thinking about freedom.

Rules and freedom don't sound like friends.  Rules are the things we see as impugning on our freedoms.  But the interesting thing is, without rules, there is less freedom.  If there was no law and associated consequences against stealing, I would not have the freedom to sit in my house and feel safe that most likely no one will try and steal my belongings.  Good laws and wise rules actually create freedom through their restrictions.

Freedom through restriction... an interesting oxymoron.  But we see this with kids too.  People agree that kids need boundaries.  It makes them feel safe, and it gives them the freedom to develop and master the milestones of their age. Of course few children can recognize that, so an adult that truly loves them will restrict them so they can have more freedom.

This law is present in love too.  There is no true love without restrictions on our freedoms.  Because I love my husband I am not free to have sex with anyone else.  I am not free to do whatever I want with my time and money without regards to him.  The most intense love I've experienced has been for my children, and I've also given up more of my freedoms to them than to anything else in my life.  If you want a life free of restrictions, you will also have a life free of love.  But in the restrictions of my family there is an unmatched joy, and yes, freedom.

I think this is an important thing to think about, because it effects our view of God.  American culture has grasped onto the Judeo-Christian concept of a loving God, but has watered the concept down to meaning a God who wants us to follow our hearts and chase our dreams.  We don't like the idea of a God with rules and boundaries.  It sounds restrictive and narrow.  But any parent knows there will come a time when they have to impose a boundary on their child for their own good but their child will see it as offensive and say something like, "you wouldn't do this if you loved me!"  When of course the opposite would be true. Because if we didn't love our children we'd save ourselves the bother and let them head straight into whatever destruction they please.

If you look for a God who will not restrict you what you'll find is a god who does not love you. And instead of finding freedom you'll find slavery. Because to be a God of Love also means to be a God of Law, and in the wise and loving law of God, there is much freedom.

Psych and the ER

  

In nursing school I found our psych rotation fascinating.  The abstract of the human mind and it's interconnection and dependence on the more tangible brain with it's many labyrinths and mysteries and illnesses and unbalances is very very interesting.

That being said... I have never had the slightest desire to be a psych nurse. Not because it isn't a fascinating area, because it is. But it is also a very frustrating one. And so rarely (it seems) a fruitful one.  And so it has been very stretching and rather trying for me to discover that being an ER nurse means being a psych nurse 30% of the time.

I could never have imagined the extent of the psychosis in our midst.  It is so strange to have a patient speak to you from a disjointed reality all their own, that you can't convince them isn't real. And it's unnerving to have someone stare at you with their calm face but intensely pressured gaze that plainly tells you what they are willing and capable of doing to you (and maybe did to their mom, brother, cousin, uncle, innocent bystander) and might do at a moment's notice, before you can call "code grey!" I could never have imagined the large number of thrashing, screaming, wild eyed men calling for children they don't have or referencing encounters with Jesus, Mary, or Oprah that most assuredly did not take place.

Maybe my feelings for mental health nursing have been poorly influenced by encountering it in the ER.  The emergency room must be the least therapeutic place for someone with really any psychiatric problem.  Take the violently paranoid schizo who gets pinned to a gurney by a few men (and women) and strapped down with lock and key restraints.  He must surely be feeling his paranoia must be a little bit justified. And have you ever tried keeping someone with bipolar in manic phase in one room?? And thanks to poor funding and few resources, we've had to keep mentally unstable patients with us for days!  With none of their normal meds, unfamiliar surroundings, people watching them all the time, and nothing to do but become agitated, angry, demanding, or try to escape - sometimes naked.

Maybe if I felt in some way we did them some good I would be able to cope with it better. But I don't.  At best we keep them from hurting themselves and us (usually).  But other than that it's like an unpleasant version of Purgatory. And we're the angels that drew the short stick.

Maybe if I had Jesus' ability to set people in their right minds.  But I hardly have his insight. Or compassion.  And I can't seem to help my morale hitting the floor when I hear the words, "you're getting an ambulance in 10 minutes with a violent, combative patient in 4 point restraints." And I know I'm not alone.  God help us.  And God help those fragile, tangled minds.