Hey there! Thanks so much for visiting my site.
A little about me
I’m Lee, an Internal Medicine physician. For almost twenty years now, I’ve worked as a hospitalist. That just means I spend most of my time rounding on adult patients while they’re in the hospital. I’ve done a lot of rounding, and through the years, I’ve found that three little words evoke a bigger response from my patients than almost anything else.
Now, you might imagine that these three words are something scary. Something like, “You have cancer,” or even, “Here’s my bill.” But it’s nothing like that. These words actually draw warm smiles. Many of my patients visibly relax when I say them. So, what are these three little words that mean so much?
God bless you.
It’s kind of funny. I was born and raised in the Bible Belt, and I currently practice in a faith-affiliated hospital. But even so, many of my patients seem pleasantly surprised when I offer them this most general of blessings. They don’t bat an eye at the crucifix on the wall, and many of them even have their own Bible right there on the bedside table. But still, a living, breathing doctor who makes reference to faith catches many people off guard.
If you ask me, my brief words of blessing are more than appropriate. They provide an essential context for the therapeutic relationship that will follow. The patient is there looking for something, and I’m there to try to help. When I say, “God bless you,” I’m simply acknowledging that the outcome of it all will be bigger than both of us, and we’ll have to discover it together. I’m always happy to do my part, but there’s only one Healer. I want him to bless my patients indeed, and speaking his name over them seems like a fitting way to acknowledge and welcome his involvement.
The modern world pressures us to divide things up into two camps. We’re told that we should put facts, logic and science on the one hand, and faith on the other. But that’s a flawed perspective. I’m a grateful Christian and my faith is sincere, but I still love to use reason to try to make sense of the world around me. Paul prayed that the believers in Colossae would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. I can admit it: I want that filling too. Where did everything come from? How does everything work, and why does it work that way? Who am I, and what am I supposed to be doing? These are the kinds of questions that fascinate me.
My search for answers is certainly grounded in my faith. But I enjoy learning about all kinds of things: photography, music, literature, film, technology, biology, and of course, the practice of medicine. I’ve devoted considerable time and attention to each of these subjects. But as often as I can, I like to step back from whatever I’m currently working on to ask myself what it’s really teaching me. I want to look beyond what I’m learning about a particular subject, and even what it may be showing me about myself, to consider what I’m ultimately discovering about everything.
The purpose of my site
I want my understanding of the world — and elsewhere — to be as integrated as possible. I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad idea to try to “put everything in a box.” But before I do, I want to make sure I’ve even got the right boxes. My Christian faith puts God at the beginning of it all, and from that starting point I’ve arrived at a short list of topics I find the most interesting. Here’s the kind of stuff I really enjoy thinking about:
The personhood of God. What do we mean when we speak of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit?
The personhood of man. Why do people act the way they do? What does it mean to bear the image of God?
Ontology and epistemology. Two big words for concepts that we all grapple with every day: the nature of being and the nature of knowing. How do we know what is real? How do we know what is true?
Origins. How did the world come to be as it is? How can we know, and why does it matter?
Here on my site, I’ll offer my best answers to questions like these. I’ll also welcome your feedback and discussion. If I don’t agree with you, I’ll probably tell you so. But I won’t insult you, and more importantly, I won’t think less of you. I’ll respect you and your views — whatever they may be. It’s important for us to talk to each other about the things that matter most, and I certainly don’t believe God wants us to keep our thoughts and feelings about him to ourselves. By the way, if you aren’t so sure God exists at all, you’re especially welcome here. I believe we’re all a lot more alike than we sometimes imagine. Every step we ever take is ultimately a step of faith.
I’m on a quest to know God and his truth, and I’d be delighted to have your company along the way. If you’re in, you can sign up for my newsletter at the bottom of this page. It’ll be a way for me to let you know whenever I’ve posted anything new, and I’ll also reach out regularly just to update you on the most interesting things I’ve encountered or thought about lately.
Oh, and one more thing.
God bless you.