YPraise Fellowship
Sunday, June 28, 2015
The Story of Two Clinics
Clinic One
The sign on the door stated that the clinic doors opened at 7:30am and the office opened at 8:00am. It listed the name of the doctor and a number to call if needed to speak to someone during off hours.
At about 7:20 cars began to pull into the parking lot and, because the morning was a nice and comfortable morning, people got out of their cars and waited in line for the doors to open. If you had been parked across the street you would have thought that this was a family reunion. People laughed, shook hands, greeted each other with the warmest of greetings. In fact, you may have thought by the actions of those waiting for the clinic doors to open that this town must be one of the friendliest towns you have ever seen.
At 7:30 sharp the doors opened and people orderly entered the buildng. There was no pushing, no rush to be first. It was such a friendly and smooth process. It would have made your heart feel good to see how willing people were to let each other go first into the clinic.
They sat quietly talking, waiting for the receptionist to open her window and call out the names that had been written by each person on the clipboard by the door. Again, people were letting other people sign before them, no one seemed in any hurry or concern that they might not be seen at the time they wanted to be seen by the doctor. It was just a pleasant place to be, so warm, inviting and friendly.
At about five minutes to eight the door opened and in came a mother with her small child. The mother's eyes showed that she had been awake most of the night. Her clothing and hair showed the same. Her hair was all out of place, just rolled on the top of her head and held in place with a few Obote pins. She was dressed in sweat pants, a tee shirt and she was wearing her bath robe for an outside covering. She had no makeup on and she, quite frankly, looked out of place considering all of the other people in the clinic looked like they had just stepped out of a fashion magazine.
The little girl was obviously sick. Her nose was red, eyes dazed and bloodshot and her breathing sounded horrible. She wheezed with every breath and it was obviously labored. She leaned against her mother, not moving, her little face pale and her eyes lifeless as they stared off into nowhere.
You should have seen the reaction inside the waiting room when the mother arrived with her sick daughter. I know that you probably are thinking that this group of people that had been so friendly and caring would open their arms to one who was sick, but quite the opposite was true. Mothers grabbed their children and headed to the opposite side of the room. One mother grabbed her can of disinfectant spray and sprayed it all over the place, her children huddled behind her. Fathers formed a human chain around their wives and children as if they were making their last stand against some attacking enemy. The receptionist quickly called on the phone and suddenly a nurse appeared at the door. You may have thought that since the little girl was so sick that they were going to call her first to see the doctor. Instead, the nurse look at the lady from across the room and loudly proclaimed...
"This is a clinic for well people, not sick people. The people that come here do not have any kind of sickness, that is why they come here. We do not allow sick people to be seen in this clinic. I will have to ask you to leave and to take your sick child with you."
"But my daughter is very sick and she needs to see a doctor. I have been up with her all night and she has only gotten worse. Please, is there any way that she can see the Doctor?"
"Look around this room ma'am," the nurse said coldly, "Do you see anyone else who is sick in this room? Do you want to know why? It is because we do not allow sick people to come to this clinic, only those who are well. If we let one person come to our clinic that is sick then all of the sick people might want to come and then we all might get sick. We have not allowed a sick person to come to this clinic since we began, and I want to tell you that we have almost the same number of clients as we had when we began. We are proud of that."
"So no one who has ever come to this clinic has ever gotten sick?"
"Oh, some have, but when you get sick, we kick you out. We don't want those germs to infect anyone in this clinic. Nope, only well people are welcomed in this clinic."
"I don't understand. I thought this was a clinic where there was a doctor on staff who would be able to help my sick child. To be honest with you, I really don't feel that good myself and I really would like to see a doctor."
"We had a doctor who thought that way once but we fired him and got us another doctor. He says this is the easiest job he has ever had, only seeing well patients. He smiles, tells us how good we are doing, and that if we avoid people who are sick we will never get sick ourselves. We all love him. He's a wonderful guy."
"But he won't see me or my daughter?"
"Nope, sick people are not welcome here. How many times must I tell you? Only well people are welcome here."
Sadly and slowly the mother picked up her sick little girl and headed to the door. As soon as she was outside the nurse ran to where she had been sitting and sprayed the chair down with disinfectant spray and locked the door. Mothers quietly whispered to each other about the nerve of someone who was sick coming to the clinic.
One small little girl asked her mother, "Why did we not help that little girl?" Her mother quickly responded, "You listen little girl. Who knows what that mother did to get that little girl sick. It was obvious that she was doing something wrong or that little girl would be well."
"I wanted to go and talk to her," the little girl said.
"You have plenty of friends that are perfectly well. You do not need to go and talk to any little girl who is sick. I don't want you to catch whatever it was that she had."
The room was still hushed when a cry was heard from outside the door. "MY BABY, MY BABY. SOMEONE PLEASE, SHE'S DYING. PLEASE SOMEONE HELP!"
The room was silent for a moment. Then the receptionist turned on some of the most beautiful music, turned the volume up till no one could hear the cries from the mother outside the door, and the nurse came to the door and called calmly...
"The Jones family, the doctor will see you now."
Clinic Two
The sign on the door stated that the clinic doors opened at 7:30 and the office opened at 8:00. It listed the name of the doctor and a number to call if you needed to speak to someone during off hours.
At about 7:20 cars began to pull into the parking lot and because the morning was a nice comfortable morning, people got out of their cars and waited in line for the doors to open. If you have been parked across the street you would have thought that this was a family reunion. People laughed, shook hands, greeted each other with the warmest of greetings. In fact, you may have thought by the actions of those waiting for the clinic doors to open that this town must be one of the friendliest towns you have ever seen.
At 7:30 sharp the doors opened and people orderly entered the building. There was no pushing, no rush to be first. It was such a friendly and smooth process. It would have made your heart feel good to see how willing people were to let each other go first into the clinic.
They sat quietly talking, waiting for the receptionist to open her window and call out the names that had been written by each person on the clipboard by the door. Again, people were letting other people sign before them. No one seemed in any hurry, or concerned that they might not be seen at the time they wanted to see the doctor. It was just a pleasant place to be, so warm, inviting and friendly.
At about five minutes to eight the door opened and in came a mother with her small child. The mothers eyes showed that she had been awake most of the night. Her clothing and hair showed the same. Her hair was all out of place, just rolled on the top of her head and held in place with a few bobby pins. She was dressed in sweat pants, a tee shirt and she was wearing her bath robe for an outside covering. She had no makeup on and she, quite frankly, looked out of place considering all of the other people of the clinic looked like they had just stepped out of a fashion magazine.
The little girl was obviously sick. Her nose was red, eyes dazed and bloodshot and her breathing sounded horrible. She wheezed with every breath and it was obviously labored. She leaned against her mother, not moving, her little face pale and her eyes lifeless as they stared off into nowhere.
You should have seen the reaction inside the waiting room when the mother arrived with her sick daughter. I know that you probably are thinking that this group of people that had been so friendly and caring would open thier arms to one who was sick, and that is exactly what happened. An older lady cried out "Oh honey, you look like you could use some help. Come folks, let's help this poor lady and her child."
Quickly, a couple of ladies ran to her side to help her stand. The older lady took the little girl and cuddled her in her arms. The receptionist rang the doctor and the nurse came running from the back.
"Your poor baby," she said as she quickly checked on the little girl, "How long has she been sick?" she asked lovingly.
"She was sick all night. I haven't slept a bit. I'm really worried about her."
"Don't you worry none," one of the mother's said. "We've all been sick and our doctor is the best. He'll know what to do."
"Let's get them to a room," the nurse said.
The older lady carefully carried the little girl to the exam room. The ladies helped the exhausted mother to the room. When they entered the room one of the ladies untied the robe and carefully straightened it out for the lady. As she sat in the chair, one of the ladies whispered to her daughter who had followed the group into the room. The little girl ran into the waiting area and returned with a comb from mer mother's purse. The lady carefully pulled the pins from the ladies hair and began to comb her hair.
"You dont have to do that?" the mother protested.
"I'm a hair dresser and I love to do hair. You just sit back and hold your daughter's hand to assure her that all is going to be okay and let me fix your hair."
With tender and caring hands she combed the matted hair and then pulled it back into a pony tail.
"There," the hair dresser said, "all fixed."
"Thank you," said the mother.
The doctor entered the room and looked at the little girl. He quickly told the nurse what to do, a breathing treatment for her lungs, some antibiotics for the infection and a shot. The sick little girl stiffened at the order of a shot. The little girl who had gotten her mother's brush for her grabbed the little girls hand and said "When I was sick I got a shot. It hurt for a moment but it made me feel better."
"Please folks, everyone out" asked the nurse politely.
"Mother, can I stay and hold her hand while she gets her shot? I want her to know that it will be okay."
The mother looked at the nurse who smiled and nodded an ok. She looked at the little girl's mother who nodded her approval. And when the sick little girl got her shot, her brand new friend was holding her hand.
When the doctor said they could leave, both mother and daughter were surprised to see the lobby full of people.
"How did you get here this morning?" someone asked.
"We walked. I don't have a car."
A lady spoke. "John, drive the car to the door. We're taking these folks home. No one is walking today."
And they drove the little girl and her mother home.
The next day, the doorbell rang at the house of the sick little girl. When the mother answered there were two ladies at the door.
"We were at the clinic and we came to check on how our little patient is doing, and how the big one is as well."
"Much better," the mother responded.
"Great. Oh, we've brought lunch if you don't mind. We figured that with all that happened yesterday you might not have had time to prepare lunch." And with that the ladies walked into the house with lunch.
"We'll fix lunch. You go to your daughter's room and we will bring it to you in a moment."
Lunch was great. They all had a wonderful time getting to know each other. When lunch was finished, the ladies picked up the house while mother and daughter rested. That afternoon some men came and cut the grass. And for the next couple of days someone called everyday to check on the little girl and her mother.
Soon the little girl was healthy as could be. Mother and daughter walked to the clinic for a check-up. The doctor announced that all was well. Happily mother and daughter began to walk back to the house. As they walked down the street, the little girl heard someone coughing, coughing like she had coughed.
"Mother, someone in that house is sick. We need to tell them to go to the clinic." Before the mother could stop the little girl, she ran to the door to tell those inside of the doctor who helped her get well.
The Great Physician said in Matthew 9:12..."Healthy people don't need a doctor-sick people do."
Which church, oh, I'm sorry, which clinic do you go to?
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