Faithful One, So Unchanging!

One of the things about living life between the buns (life in the sandwich generation) is that I cannot deny that my life has changed so much through its 60 years so far. Perspective has changed, mostly for the better I hope. Priorities have changed as little children grew up, got married, had kids of their own, and got their own mortgages. Physical appearance has changed as gravity and the aging process have taken their toll. Energy levels have most definitely changed. Thoughts about "the future" have changed as I seek ways to downsize and simplify. The years of accumulating and building are farther and farther behind. The hardest change I've endured so far was the loss of my dad last year. When we were much younger, it seemed like life would always be the same and we would always have our loved ones with us.

Today I took my mom for a medical appointment at a local hospital. In the waiting room was a huge (like a story and a half) artistic rendition of the Hippocratic Oath. I realized I had never read it before, so I took a few moments to do so. The Hippocratic Oath supposedly originated from Hippocrates, an ancient Greek who lived about 400 BC, and is considered to be the "father of modern medicine". I was fairly shocked to see that it included references to abortion and what we now call euthanasia, and several other issues that had to do with ethical situations.

A 12th century Byzantine manuscript of the oath, rendered in the form of a cross

I have always assumed that taking the Hippocratic Oath was something required of all new doctors as they were ready to embark on their practices. After I had a chance to do just a little research, I found there is the original Oath, which in the past was taken routinely by new physicians, and a "modern" version, adapted sometime in the 1970's. However apparently neither the ancient version nor the modern version is used anymore at medical schools! Most of them now have some ethical statement or pledge that is recited at graduation ceremonies, but there is no universal standard or code of ethics for the profession upon which to take an oath due to changing societal mores and the variety of accepted medical practices.

The American Medical Association has a published oath that it has "approved". This version has totally removed the references to things like never prescribing or administrating a lethal dose of medicine to any patient even if asked; also deleted is the statement referring to performing duties with utmost respect for every human life from fertilization to natural death and rejecting abortion that deliberately takes a unique human life.

All of this got me to thinking this afternoon about one of the profound attributes of God, His immutability. That means He never changes. His character never changes, His purposes never change. He is dependable in so many ways, known and unknown! So unlike fallen humanity, whose moral code changes like shifting sand. What was wrong yesterday is ok today. What is true today may be false tomorrow. God is so unlike that! Because He doesn't change, we can always know we can depend on Him and that His Word will always be true.

I hope you have a couple minutes to listen to this song, Faithful One by Brian Doerksen and sung on YouTube by Andy Park. I think it is just beautiful, and is my song of praise today.