frustrations

i do not pretend to be completely educated on the following subject. i admit that i could be wrong. however, that being said, i do strongly believe that my thoughts are not far off from what i've come to learn and know of Jesus.
i recently watched "sicko", the documentary on healthcare in america by michael moore. now, i'm sure some of you might be tempted to stop reading at the mention of his name. i know that he definitely has an agenda in his films, he tends to go over the top, and presents one side of the story, but i also believe that there is truth in what he says. being pregnant myself and having a 2 year old, healthcare is an important issue to me. so, as i watched how pregnant women in france get a MINIMUM of 6 months PAID maternity leave, no matter their jobs, i was slightly jealous. and after seeing how the french government issues people to come over postpartum to help you with whatever you need help with...twice a week...and yes, it's free...i was ready to pack our bags!! (i can see some people now saying..."it's not really free, you pay for it in taxes"...i'll get to that later.) so, obviously, that was very appealing to me. but what affected me even more was hearing the stories of americans who have been bitten by the healthcare system...those who were "fortunate" enough to only go bankrupt trying to fight off sickness, and those who couldn't pay at all and ended up dying because they had no treatment available to them. i didn't understand, after watching the film, how we could possibly think that national healthcare would be a bad idea. i'm not completely naive. i know that there are problems with such a system. nothing works as smoothly as we'd like to believe. however, if national healthcare has worked in countries like england and france for so many years, and worked so well that there would be a revolution in england were the prime minister to take it away, why are we afraid of trying it america?
i think the answer comes down to the fact that we are an individualistic society. it's every "man" for himself in america. it's the land of opportunity, but only if you, the individual, have the drive, determination, and often times, the right color skin and economic status, to make something of yourself. and if you've had the privilege of accomplishing your goals, you don't want anyone to take that away from you. you worked for it...you earned it...it's yours. somehow, christianity has become tangled up in this web of "the american way of life"...so much so that it's hard to distinguish between the two.
so obviously we're afraid of an idea (a SOCIALIST idea) that means we aren't the ones in charge of what we get. those of us who can "afford" to pay an outrageous amount of money every month for healthcare don't want to give up the "privileges" that lends us. we can even fall into the trap of thinking, "i have healthcare. i have options. the healthcare problem doesn't affect me." and yet it does. not because they tell us in the media that even those with healthcare don't have all they think they have. it affects us because it affects the poor among us. we are all God's children and when there are those among us who cannot afford what we can, how can we think that's not our problem? it is our problem, especially those of us who claim to be christian. we cannot separate ourselves from the hurting, the poor, the disenfranchised, the widows, the sick, the dying. if we think that we can, we are sorely mistaken. the gospel of Christ isn't an individualistic gospel. (which, i think, opens a whole other can of worms.) if there is a chance for the government that we are a part of to "give equality to all" in terms of healthcare...one of the most basic needs of life...shouldn't we take it? shouldn't we support it? sure, it might mean that we pay more taxes (and it might not). it might mean that we have to wait a little bit longer at the doctor's office (and it might not). it might mean that we don't get to choose what doctor we see or what hospital we go to (and it might not!). but isn't all of that worth it to be able to give the same options to those who have nothing? why do we think we should have "the best"? especially when others have nothing?
i'm still trying to muddle through all of the frustrations and irritations that have built up in my mind. it's a little difficult to even begin to talk about this because i have so much flying around in there. i guess you could technically call my a socialist, but what's so wrong with that? didn't the church in acts share EVERYTHING? and didn't those who refused to live that way fall down dead? was that just a cultural thing? i don't think so. i'm no bible scholar, but i don't think so. i think it was the way that they cared for one another. could we do that today? would we be willing to do that today? as a member of the body of Christ, i sure hope so.
well, i am slightly a pessimist, so i'd have to say that, honestly, i don't know that national healthcare will ever happen in america...unfortunately. there's way too much politics and money (and i would like to insert "greed" and "evil") wrapped up in the health insurance companies today. but that doesn't deter me from fighting for change. i don't think that should deter any of us from petitioning the government of the country we live in to have the most elementary thoughts about humanity. i mean, for crying out loud, public education is free! not to devalue education because i think it is extremely important, but come on...what the government is saying to us is that educating people is more important than actually keeping them alive. and yet, education in america isn't a sign of socialism for some reason. i just don't get it.
i'd love to hear your thoughts on this. i think it is an important thing we should be thinking and deliberating over. i think a lot of us know someone who has been directly affected by the healthcare system...someone who has gone bankrupt trying to pay for the debt they've accrued simply by being sick. and even if we don't personally know someone, i think we should still be shocked into rethinking by the simple hearing of such stories.
i'll end with this question...would you be willing to give up some of the things you have grown accustomed to believe are "luxuries" so that someone else could have their basic needs of life met? it's not an easy question but i think it's a necessary one.

close call

so, since we moved to montgomery, i've had to get a new "baby doctor"...also known as an OBGYN. all i had to go on in my selection was the recommendation of a few friends. i ended up going with rachel's recommendation, but her doctor couldn't fit me in. it was time for my glucose test and i needed to get in right away so i took the 1 doctor in that practice who had an opening. now, keep in mind, i'm already a little nervous because it's a man. i've always had female doctors so this is an idea i'd have to get used to.
as i'm pondering all of this and waiting for my appointment, tony tells me that he talked to one of our pastors about me finding a doctor. he told her the group i was going with but couldn't remember my doctor's name. she told tony that 1 of the doctors in that group goes to our church. of course, when tony is relaying this story to me, he can't remember the name of the doctor from our church either!
so now i'm freaking out because, not only do i have to get adjusted to a male doctor, but i have to grapple with the possibility that i may also get to see him every sunday! of all the doctors, how could i have picked the one and only that attends our church? and of all the billions of churches in montgomery, why does he go to ours?! hooray! (spoken with oodles of sarcasm, in case you missed it) how awkward will this be?!? "grace and peace dr. so-and-so. good to see you this morning. i'm sorry, can you sit on the other side of the sanctuary? thanks."
well, luckily i got to talk to our pastor before my appointment and found out that the doctor i chose is NOT the doctor that goes to our church. WHEW!!! i'd rather not have to interact with him outside the office and hospital, and especially not at church!
i did get to meet the OBGYN that goes to our church. he and his wife are really cool and i look forward to getting to know them better. and it made me even happier that he's not my doctor. i mean, who wants to hang out and be good friends with their "that" doctor and his family? thanks, but no thanks!