Met some meddies today, at a sort of post-elective Christian gathering organised by Eug and Ann. Interestingly, one of the things we talked about was cynicism.
Ann shared how some prof told her (while she was still a young/happy/wide-eyed year 3) that "the world will harden your heart". And how the cynicism of some senior doctors rubbed off on us; how every pleasant exterior masked an imperfect and unlovely interior.
Horrors. Has medicine really calloused our hearts and dulled our compassion? For surely what we gain in cynicism we lose in compassion. Compassion, by definition, is being able to feel for (and therefore do something about) the plight of fellow man. Cynicism sees the plight of man and says "he's there because he wants to be; he has some ulterior motive." Cynicism says to lovers "your honeymoon will soon end; 'tis but a passing fancy" and to dreamers "welcome to the real world; wake up and smell the coffee".
What did Jesus say? "When he (Jesus) saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harrassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." - Matthew 9:36
Ah. remind me of this verse again when I've a neverending patient queue and am running late for lunch. O God, keep our hearts tender and our hands gentle. Amen.
As I was still pondering about this last night, I'm pleasantly surprised that my questions got answered this morning when I read this quote from Michael Jackson in today's papers:
ReplyDelete"In a world filled with hate, we must still dare to hope. In a world filled with anger, we must still dare to comfort. In a world filled with despair, we must still dare to dream. And in a world filled with distrust, we must still dare to believe."
Sounds cliche, though it depends on how you interpret it. For me, I believe it can't be sheer coincidence that my questions got answered the next morning. *grins* =)
Have faith and we'll climb mountains (like Malia). Haha! (Sorry for the massive digression)