Two Sick Men

This is a story about two men who are sick.

The first man goes to the hospital and is told by a doctor, “You are going to die if you don’t take this medicine.”

The second man goes to a different hospital and is given the same medicine by another doctor who tells him, “You are going to live longer if you take this medicine.”

If you were the patient, which message would you like to hear? Which treatment would give you more hope about putting as much as you could into your life? Since the medicine is exactly the same, do you think one patient would have a better chance of recovery than the other? I can’t say for sure, but I do know which doctor I would like to return to for the follow-up visit.

When people go to church, it is like going to the hospital. Having moved around a lot, I have attended many in my lifetime. I also worked as a master control operator in television. On a typical Sunday, I would watch about six or seven televangelists and religious programs. I have seen every style and flavour of religion.

Many places of worship are like the first doctor. They tell me that I am going to die if I don’t do this or that. You know what? There are people who enjoy and need to hear this message. I am not one of them.

Why? In the earthly realm, I am going to die. So what I am going to do with my life? Am I going to sit and worry that I must do this exactly like this and exactly like that so I will be a good boy and go to heaven. Oh yes, and I have to spread the Good News. The only problem is that when it is put to me like that, the news doesn’t sound very good. The feeling is that as long as I stay confined in my tower, I will be guaranteed the joys of heaven, even if I feel trapped in this life.

I prefer a message much like the second doctor. I want to have the hope of a more abundant life. I want to live my faith with a passion, not because I feel I have to be a good boy to go to heaven. I may even do some wrong things along the way, but I will have tasted the essence of life.

I want the inspiration that caused fishermen to put down their nets and follow a complete stranger. It is hard to leave everything behind, especially when you don’t know what lies ahead. Maybe that’s why fishermen responded to the call instead of bakers who might worry how their customers would get their bread the next day. The wealthy would be concerned about leaving their collection of things behind, things they had worked hard to achieve. When you are a fisherman and don’t have much, there is less that holds you down.

Yes, I want life and I want it abundantly. I want the Good News to be good. I want to take chances now and again, knowing that I can be forgiven. I feel it is a greater sin to stay chained to a wall and not taste freedom, not to experience the breadth and depth of love that can be experienced in this world. I want to hear that I can fail, fall miserably on the ground and that there will be somebody to pick me up. I think it is more tragic when people don’t participate in the dance of life because they are afraid of falling. I want to hear that if I do this or that, I will live longer and better. I want to experience as many of the gifts life has to offer me before I die.

Are there people out there who will find flaws in my logic? Probably, just like there are doctors who scoff at some forms of alternate medicine. What is a potion for some will be poison for others.

At the end of it all, I try to follow the path that I feel leads me to my destiny in life even if it may not be paved and flat. I feel that I can do this joyfully if I believe that I will live a longer and better life if I take the proper medicine. I also feel it is just as important that I have a say in what medicine I take and that it isn’t jammed down my throat against my will.