Today

I don't know about tomorrow - I wish I did. But today, life is good.

Stages of Faith

This is an awesome post about the stages people go through in their faith. I can definitely see a lot of myself in this post. It is a bit of a read, but I highly recommend it.

And, if you're wondering, I am most certainly in the 'transitional', the 'hyper-critical', the 'desert of criticism' stage. But, I can faintly make out the light of the 'second naivety of faith', the 'post-conventional' stage, off in the far, far distance.

Kev

Ethnic Crossroads

I find myself in a very interesting position. I am a Persian, who is of the Christian faith, and who academically is very interested in Judaism and the Jewish roots of Christianity. I don't think it is very common to find these things together in one human being.

Most Persians are Muslim - few are Christian. Most Christians don't recognize and/or care about the Jewish roots of their religion. Some (many? I am not in a proper position to say) Persians are not very sympathetic towards Judaism, and by extension, Israel.

The call by the President of Iran for the extermination of the nation of Israel is not a part of my culture that I am proud of. I don't want to get too far into the whole debate about the existence of the state of Israel. I recognize how difficult the situation is, and that both sides of the debate have very strong points (and some weak ones). In any case, I do think the Jewish people should have a place to call home. I come at this because I think the Western world owes it to them for centuries upon centuries of abuse and mistreatment. However, to have them come into a land that hasn't been under Jewish sovereignty for 2500 years isn't a bright idea either. If someone came and kicked me out of my house and took my land, and then gave it to someone else, you could bet I'd be angry as well. Anyways, whatever reason I do have to support the existence of the state of Israel, it is most definitely not because of right-wing protestant exegesis - that shit I can't stand.

I'm at a very unique crossroad.

Cheers,
Kev

PBL Cheque Arrived

So it is true, the six hours of time I 'volunteered' at the Faculty of Medicine a few weeks ago did actually pay $100. Couldn't have arrived at a better time, the ol' bank accounts have been dwindling as of late.

This will give it a little boost of life. Which reminds me, the next PBL is supposed to be in a few weeks. Can you say 100 bucks?

Cheers,
Kev

Revelation?

What is one to do when they see Scripture not as revealed texts, but as human documents. Documents shaped by the history, the culture, the problems and influences, the politics and social issues of their day. What happens when the idea that God oversees this process and whispers into open ears his text begins to fade into the background - and that background becomes a speck, and that speck is lost in a sea of specks.

Can these texts in any way still have authority over life, life right here, right now? Does authority require revealed scripture? How would (could?!) a non-revealed body of texts influence and impact the life of a follower?

Moreover, revealed or not, what does 'authority' mean? How far does it extend, what are its bounds and limitations, if any?

The fine paths some of us walk.

Fools walk where angels fear to tread, no doubt.

Kev

Holy Acquisition Batman!

Acquisition. What an awesome program. Great selection, blazing fast speed.

I like.

The End.

Kev

Giants aren't so giant

Got a chance to see the Giants play tonight at Pacific Coliseum, box seats - thanks Ren! The Giants sucked, we got our asses handed to us by Kelowna. Our goalie sucked, like I swear Eug woulda done better than him.

But, the free food was excellent. The free liquor was a wonderful bonus =]. Now I know I'm not a Sleeman fan. It's an okay beer, pretty average. The wine was nice though. Sweet white wine. Great stuff.

Anyways, now I can say I've watched the Vancouver Giants, and I've been to a box seat at PC. I think that about covers everything for me: I've been box, horizons, upper bowl, and lower bowl @ GM; box and upper bowl at PC. I'm definitely glad we built GM, let me tell you that. Though, the view from the box was pretty sweet tonight.

On a complete other note, our prof pushed back our Greek midterm, again. So now no test Monday, but Friday instead. Oh well. What can you expect from a prof who has TWO level 60 characters in WoW. I never expected to meet a professor--a TENURED professor--who was a bigger computer geek than me. Hahaha!

Cheers,
Kev

Crunch Week

This is exciting, finally some work to do. Albeit, it isn't all that much, it's still something. Got my first midterm of the year tomorrow, as well as a paper due. Then another midterm next week, a 10 min presentation, and a lab write up. No biggie.

It feels nice to be back in the groove.

Yes, you can call me insane.
Kev

The Firstfruits of Work

So finally, after some six weeks of school, I have work to do. I've got two midterms, a presentation, and a short essay (5 pages) coming up in the next two weeks.

About damn time, this whole relaxed lifestyle was getting me worried.

G'luck to everyone during the midterm crunch.
Kev

Swim On

I finally got my butt down to the redone West Van Aquatic Center. What can I say, it's awesome. I really like what they've done with the place. It looks and feels modern.

But, looks aside, my body is so far out of shape it isn't even funny. This is not a good thing. Being fit affects every other part of life (for the better). It's probably time to get up on that.

A Night in the ER

Spent last night in the Emergency Room at Lions Gate Hospital. I was shadowing one of the ER doctors there, he's a family friend of ours. So I spent seven hours there just watching, talking, learning - real fun. I got to learn about the setup of the ER at LGH. The first section is the resuscitation room. These two beds are for critical patients. The second section is the emergency room. These twelve beds are for patients which aren't critical, but are emergencies nonetheless. The emergency room also has a seperate section for paediatrics, with a few beds there. The third and final section is the first aid section. These dozen or so beds are for non emergencies. Patients here may wait over two hours to have a chance to see a doctor. A shift for an ER doctor is split about 4 hours in emergency and 4 hours in first aid. I got to experience both last night.

So what kind of stuff did I see? Well, there were no critical traumas while I was there. I was kinda hoping to see something critical, but at the same time I'm happy that no people (and families) have to go through major trauma on Thanksgiving. There was one trauma, and that was a crushed lumbar vertebra of someone who fell from a height, but besides that the patient (as far as I heard) was stable. There were a number of TIA's last night (Transient Ischemic Attack), also known as mini strokes. This gave me a chance to see the examination done when there is a possible stroke or TIA, and I got to look at a bunch of CT scans. I sure got to see a lot of tests last night: CT scans, X-Rays, blood tests, urine tests. And my, those tests seem very useful. There were few pregnant patients with bleeding and/or abdominal pain. We had a couple of kids who had bonked their heads, but nothing too serious came out of that. A few patients were feeling sick - nausia, vomitting, etc... On the first aid side, most the people there had abdominal/chest pain of some sort.

All in all, an excellent night, and a great experience.

Cheers,
Kev

Feeling a Little Guilty

We're almost at the half way point of the semester, and my workload is still relatively low. I thought at the beginning of the year that the load would pick up by the October, but that was not the case. Of course, I only have four courses this semester (and six next semester, for a total of 31 credits in winter session), which thus explains the lack of stress at the moment.

The weird thing is, I sometimes feel guilty. There isn't anything I can do about it, I'm taking all the courses I can given my situation (double major, trying to catch up, etc...). My first and second year winter sessions were much busier than this, that much I remember. So yes, I feel kind of odd - a little guilty.

But then I think to myself: I came into third year with around 90 credits. That's what most people have at the end of third year. So the thought in my mind is, 'why should I feel guilty at all! I've damn well earned it!' I'll have in the vicinity of 120 credits by the end of this year; I'll graduate next year just shy of 150 credits. I have spent both my summers taking summer session, and so far I have completed 21 credits in the summer. I will be taking at least 7 credits this summer, and possibly 10. So shit, why should I feel guilty!?

I've earned it.

Kev

Kev in the ER - Monday Night

I am so psyched!

Dr. Watson called back tonight. All the paperwork is done, the hoops have been jumped through, so I'll be in the ER Monday (Thanksgiving) night. I'll be at Lions Gate Hospital from 6PM to around 1AM.

I'm told it is probably going to be busy in there. That's going to be great experience for me. But the flip side is, everyone coming in is hurt - some seriously - and on Thanksgiving of all days. So I have that torn feeling inside: experience for me at the expense of people in pain.

So I'll have a lab coat on, but I was told to dress professionally. Pants and shirt, with a tie? I'm not really sure what to wear under the coat.

Man I'm pumped. Yes yes yes!

Cheers,
Kev

A Simple Day

What could be better words to utter when you first wake up - "Thank you God for what I am and have, because I could lose it all today".

And if you make it to bed, your last words - "Thank you God for blessing me yet another day".

Cuz seriously, we can lose it all in a drop.

By the way, thanks Vince. Your comment a few weeks back really hit home,

Peace,
Kev

The best thing about the future

is that it isn't written yet; it's a big, open, question mark.

I can't explain why, but for once in a very long time, I'm actually looking forward to it.

Cheers.

Job Shadow - ER Physician at Lions Gate Hospital

I heard back from one of our family friends who is a trauma physician at Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver. I'm so excited! He said it's possible for me to come and shadow him in the ER for a night. The administration has changed some things, so there may be a few hoops to jump through, but he said that they shouldn't be a problem. He's on shift next weekend, Sunday and Monday. I know it's Thanksgiving weekend, but my family will gladly push our Thanksgiving meal one night over to let me have this experience. He also recommended the night (6pm-12pm) as the most exciting.

I'm psyched.

Hopefully the administration won't jack this up.

Bubye for now,
Kev