100

This is my 100^th blog post.

Wow. I am so awed by all of you that take the time to read what I write. I never anticipated being a writer of any sort, so this is such a stretch for me. I have to thank my amazing daughter for all of her assistance and support. She proof reads everything that I write so that I don’t embarrass myself. Any and all mistakes are mine.

This has been such an amazing journey for me; it has been so important for me to share the stories of the people that I serve. These are our friends, our neighbors, and the people that work in the establishments we frequent: grocery stores, restaurants, nursing homes, many of the businesses in our community. Their stories are important; they say a lot about our society and how we treat people. Their stories also tell a great deal about the real values in our country today.

We proclaim loudly that we are a Christian country, that we live by Christian values. But, that is not what I see. To me, living by Christian values would mean that we live out the words of Jesus from Matthew 25: The Judgement of the Nations

 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’”

When we refuse to take care of people because we don’t think that they are worthy, we are not living our lives as Christians; when we refuse to provide equal access to quality healthcare to everyone, we are not living our lives as Christians.

We are ALL better off when everyone has access to healthcare.

And, that is my sermon for the day. Thank you to all of you who care, all of you who donate your time, talent and treasures to this clinic or wherever your passion leads you. Thank you for letting me tell the stories.