The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1897-06-11

when doctor ought to know how to
pray. All the hosts of ills will some
times hurl themselves on the weak
points of the physical organism, or with
equal ferUcity will assault the entire
line of susceptibility to suffering. The
next dose of medicine will decide
whether or not the happy home shall be
broken up. Shall it be this medicine or
that medicine? God help the doctor
Between the five drops and the ten
drops may be the question Of life or
death. Shall it be the five or the ten
drops! Be careful how you put that
knife through those delicate portions of
the body, for if it swing out of the way
the sixth part of an inch the patient
perishes. Under such circumstances a
physician needs not so much consulta-
ton with men of his own calling as he
needs consultation with that God who
strung the nerves and built the cells
and swung the crimson tide through the
arteries. You wonder why the heart
throbs, why it seems to open and shut.
There is no wonder about it. 1t is Gods
hand, shutting, opening, shutting, open
ing, on every heart. When a man comes
to doctor the eye, he ought be in COM
munication with him who said to the
blind, receive thy sight. When a
doctor comes to treat paralytic arm,
he ought to be in communication with
him who said, "Stretch forth thy hand,
and he stretched it forth" When man
rhage, he needs to be i'll communication
with him who cured the issue of blood,
saying, "Thy faith hath saved thee.
Piety and Medical Skill.
do not mean to say that piety will
make up for medical skill. A bungling
doctor, COMPOUNDED with what was not
very bad case, went into the next room
to pray. A skilled physician was called
in. He asked for the first practitioner
"Oh," they said, che s i'll the next room
praying. "Well, said the skilled doc
tor, tell him to come out here and
help. He can pray and work at the
same time" 1t was all in that sen
tence. Do the best we can and ask God
to help u.s. There are no two men in all
the world, it seems to me, that so much
need the grace of God as the minister
who doctors the sick soul and the ply
stefan who prescribes Tor the diseased
body.
Another reason why the medical pro-
fession ought to be Christians is because
there opens before them such grand
field for Christian usefulness. You see
so many people in pain, in trouble, in
bereavement. You ought to be the voice
of heaven to their souls. Old DR.. Cash.
erie De Witt, a practitioner of New
York, told me in his last days, II al.
ways present the religion of Christ tC
my patients, either directly or indirect
ly, and find it is almost always accept.
able. " Drs. Abercrombie and Brown of
Scotland, Drs. Hey and Fothergill of
England and DR.. Rush of our own coun.
try were celebrated for their faithful
ness in that direction. ooh" says the
medical profession, THAT is your occu-
patton. That belongs to the clergy, not
to US" My brother, there are severe ill
nesses in which you will not admit even
the clergy, and that PATIENTS salvation |
will depend upon your faithfulness.
With the medicine for the body i'll one
hand, the medicine for the soul i'll the .
other, oh, what a chancel There lies
dying Christian Oh the pillow. You
need to hold over him the lantern of |
the gospel until its light streams across
the pathway of the departing pilgrim
and you need to cry into the dull ear OF .
death, "Hark to the song of heavens .
welcome that comes stealing over the .
waters!' There lies on the pillow dy-
ing sinner All the morphine that you
brought with you cannot quiet him.
Terror III the face. Terror in the heart.
How he jerks himself up on one elbow
and looks wildly into your face and
says: Doctor, can't die. l am not
ready to die. What makes it so dark
Doctor, can you pray?" Blessed for you
and blessed for him if then you can
kneel down and say: 80 God, | have
done the best l could to cure this mans
body, and | have failed. Now / commit
to thee his poor, suffering and alright
ed soul. Open Paradise to his departing
spirit. "
The Last Sickness.
But l must close, for there may be
suffering men and women waiting in
your office, or on the hot pillow, won
1erlng why you don't come. But before
you go, o doctors, hear my prayer for
your eternal salvation. Blessed will be
The reward in heaven for the faithful
christian physician. Some day, through
)verwork or from bending over pa
lent and catching his contagious breath,
he doctor comes home, and he lies
Town faint and sick He is too weary
% feel his own pulse or take the dag.
losis OF his own complaint. He is worn
nut. The fact is, his work on earth is
nded. Tell those people in the office
here they need not wait any longer.
a HnnfOr mil -