Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me. Psalm 139:7-9
“Code Blue!” The loudspeaker announced that the hospital room where this patient was dying was right across the hall from the room where I was doing an admission History and Physical exam. We had just only been recently certified in Basic Life Support as 3-year medical students and as yet been untested in real life.
I dashed across the hall to find that I was the first one to respond to this middle-aged woman, who I knew nothing about, and who was unconscious. I checked for pulses to find she had none, and she was not breathing. I administered two rescue breaths in standard mouth-to-mouth fashion, and then followed with chest compressions. When it came time for repeat mouth-to-mouth breaths , I had no sooner began to breath for her, when she vomited into my mouth! Her pulses had returned and we were able to get a blood pressure. By this time her attending physician had arrived, thanked me for my help and assumed further management of the case.
I was grateful for the successful outcome of my first Code, but I hastily found my way to a rest room and rinsed my mouth out with water and mouthwash vigorously! I also scoured the chart for her diagnosis, and whether she had any infectious disease. It was 1978 and AIDS hadn’t been described as yet, but Hepatitis B, tuberculosis were endemic to the inner city hospital where I trained. Fortunately the patent was clear of any of these infections.
I cannot number the amount of ‘Codes’ that I have responded to in 44 years of practice since that sentinel event in 1978. But my experience mirrors the national statistic of in-hospital cardiac arrest outcomes; only 1 in 4 were successful, with a 75% mortality.
Don’t you feel your heart break when you discern spiritually that a person is “Code Blue”; they are letting go of life? They are pulseless—they are Wordless. “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” (Deut.8:3)
They are not breathing—praise has ceased. “Let every thing that has breath praise the Lord.”(Ps.150:6) “It is not the dead who praise the Lord”. (Psalm.115:17)
They are are unconscious—“God has given them a spirit of stupor, Eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear,…” (Rom.11:8)
I am thinking of a sister in Christ who, despite her outward appearance that everything was fine, she seemed forlorn. She was responsive to our invitation to church and seemed to enjoy to the service and said she would return. I learned later that week she had killed herself. I didn’t hear the Spirit calling “Code Blue”. Why didn’t I?
I am also thinking of a brother in Christ who, at this present writing, is running from God. He had a wonderful victory over drug addiction as his testimony, and he was a leader among young men. Sadly, he had a relapse, left the church and left the state. He is “Code Blue “.
I am confident the divine First Responder will manage this Code, and my brother will find: “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence…”
When we have communion, we aren’t simply sharing a meal. We are making a commitment to the Lord and to each other. And this bond, this fellowship, extends beyond the borders of the church. We are making a commitment to lay down our lives for each other. In so doing, it may get messy. We may get vomit in our mouths. We may get blood on our shoe. It will cost us one way or another. But it will be worth it to see another one, like the thief on the cross, make his confession “Lord, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom.” The Lord’s response was to save a life. How can we do less?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me. Psalm 139:7-9
“Code Blue!” The loudspeaker announced that the hospital room where this patient was dying was right across the hall from the room where I was doing an admission History and Physical exam. We had just only been recently certified in Basic Life Support as 3-year medical students and as yet been untested in real life.
I dashed across the hall to find that I was the first one to respond to this middle-aged woman, who I knew nothing about, and who was unconscious. I checked for pulses to find she had none, and she was not breathing. I administered two rescue breaths in standard mouth-to-mouth fashion, and then followed with chest compressions. When it came time for repeat mouth-to-mouth breaths , I had no sooner began to breath for her, when she vomited into my mouth! Her pulses had returned and we were able to get a blood pressure. By this time her attending physician had arrived, thanked me for my help and assumed further management of the case.
I was grateful for the successful outcome of my first Code, but I hastily found my way to a rest room and rinsed my mouth out with water and mouthwash vigorously! I also scoured the chart for her diagnosis, and whether she had any infectious disease. It was 1978 and AIDS hadn’t been described as yet, but Hepatitis B, tuberculosis were endemic to the inner city hospital where I trained. Fortunately the patent was clear of any of these infections.
I cannot number the amount of ‘Codes’ that I have responded to in 44 years of practice since that sentinel event in 1978. But my experience mirrors the national statistic of in-hospital cardiac arrest outcomes; only 1 in 4 were successful, with a 75% mortality.
Don’t you feel your heart break when you discern spiritually that a person is “Code Blue”; they are letting go of life? They are pulseless—they are Wordless. “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” (Deut.8:3)
They are not breathing—praise has ceased. “Let every thing that has breath praise the Lord.”(Ps.150:6) “It is not the dead who praise the Lord”. (Psalm.115:17)
They are are unconscious—“God has given them a spirit of stupor, Eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear,…” (Rom.11:8)
I am thinking of a sister in Christ who, despite her outward appearance that everything was fine, she seemed forlorn. She was responsive to our invitation to church and seemed to enjoy to the service and said she would return. I learned later that week she had killed herself. I didn’t hear the Spirit calling “Code Blue”. Why didn’t I?
I am also thinking of a brother in Christ who, at this present writing, is running from God. He had a wonderful victory over drug addiction as his testimony, and he was a leader among young men. Sadly, he had a relapse, left the church and left the state. He is “Code Blue “.
I am confident the divine First Responder will manage this Code, and my brother will find: “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence…”
When we have communion, we aren’t simply sharing a meal. We are making a commitment to the Lord and to each other. And this bond, this fellowship, extends beyond the borders of the church. We are making a commitment to lay down our lives for each other. In so doing, it may get messy. We may get vomit in our mouths. We may get blood on our shoe. It will cost us one way or another. But it will be worth it to see another one, like the thief on the cross, make his confession “Lord, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom.” The Lord’s response was to save a life. How can we do less?
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