sunday 30th March

Im writing today's blog sitting in the waiting area at The Sick Kids Hospital Belfast one hour into a three hour wait to be seen.  The place is packed with parents and kids, most of whom look bored but OK. And Im thinking that church is probably missing a trick here somehow.  We could be in every A& E department up and down the land handing out free tea and coffee.  Or in every sick kids waiting area doing a story time for kids or bringing playdough and Lego.  Or something.  Talk about a captive audience of needy people with nothing else to do!!!
Im here cos Josh ( middle son) has been vomiting for two weeks solid.  The anti sickness pills the doctor gave him have come straight back up along with everything else he has eaten in the past fortnight so, despite his anxiety and loud protests, we are in the hospital waiting to see what they say.  We are very fortunate really.  With three boisterous boys we have managed to get away with relatively few trips to A&E.   One broken bone per child.  A rather scary case of bronchialitis when Josh was only 3 weeks old.  Apart from that we really havent had much cause to be in a hospital.   But boy are we glad thay are here when we do need them.

So today I am minded to be particularly thankful for our Health Service and all those wonderful people who work in it.  From the porters and drivers and cleaners to the nurses and orderlies and surgeons.  The receptionists and cooks and administrators.  They are all wonderful and Im so thankful for them

The other day on Desert Island Discs the castaway was the lady doctor who in the Ethiopian famine of 1984 ( Live Aid) had the soul destroying job of labeling the thousands of starving and dying people in the refugee camps.  Labeling them ' Treat' and Do Not Treat'   - in other words,  ' Live' or 'Die' .  There were not enough supplies to go round.  Rehydration salts and simple feeding solutions which could save lives. So she had the job of deciding who got them and who didnt knowing full well that those who didnt would die.  How horrendous.  Yet I suppose being able to save some was better than not being able to save any
There is so much inequality in the world and we take our more-than-fair-share for granted.  We get grumpy at waiting times and prescription charges and ward closures when in many parts of the world people are dying of malnutrition and preventable diseases.  We should be very thankful for what we have

So today I am praying for doctors, nurses, denitsts and everyone who works in the health services.  Lord, bless the work of their hands, give them strength and patience and skill.  Thank You for all the innovation and technology and skill which keeps us healthy and heals us when we are not.   I pray for breakthroughs in understanding those diseases which still defeat us and success in the treatments already in development.  I pray that you will speak to those of us in the developed world who contribute to our own health problems by the unhealthy lifestyles we live and grant grace to those working in the developing world as they battle the ravages of poverty.  Amen.