“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.” Martin Luther King
Other than a major airport, there are few places more cosmopolitan than a Valley hospital. At every level of care, Valley hospitals represent a living reminder of America’s original motto, “E Pluribus Unum.”*
I was reminded of our first national motto by the doctors and nurses whose competence, compassion, and good cheer brought me through a series of recent ailments that had rendered me helpless. Without them and the close circle of friends who provided necessities such as food when I couldn’t shop for myself, I doubt I’d be here. Those doctors and nurses represented cultures and ethnicities from all over the world.
An especially illuminating moment came when I learned one of my nurses was the child of parents who had left Tibet after the Chinese took over in 1959. Her story was typical of those that once provided the driving narrative of the American experiment with self-rule, a story that began with a flight from totalitarianism and continued when she found herself in the land of the free.
Freedom — especially freedom of speech and religion — has been a driving force in our nation’s identity. When coupled with American opportunity, freedom has been the irresistible beacon that beckons people from all over the world, even from faraway Tibet, a land of Sherpas, Snow Leopards and towering mountains girdled with glaciers.
The American Dream has always been a fragile ideal, one that depends as much on the promise that hard work will be fairly rewarded as on our perilous journey toward justice for all. Hospitals, where doctors and nurses work only after earning their credentials through rigorous training, offer a proving ground for our enduring belief that success and achievement are not only for the privileged among us, they can also be had by those with the motivation and perseverance to find America’s open doors of opportunity and work their ways through them.
The enduring lesson one learns after a stay in a local hospital is that competence and compassion are not the special attributes of any one nation, region or culture. There are few examples more illuminating about the human condition than a compassionate doctor or nurse, especially when one is helpless and afraid. Health care demands the best from us and we find many of the best of us have dedicated their lives to it while helping others in the difficult environs of operating rooms, isolation wards, and intensive care units.
In America, those people, the ones on the hard proving grounds of health care, come from most every part of the world. They are the “many” out of whom our one nation has been constituted, united in pursuit of the ideals that animate our ongoing dreams for a world of peace and good will toward all.
Those of us who’ve been fortunate enough to find ourselves in the caring hands of global humanity during times of dire need can only give thanks. E Pluribus Unum.
*Out of many, one.
I’m glad you’re back, Eric. I wondered what happened. You’ll find the same diversity and care in almost every California hospital. Three cheers to a speedy recovery.
Thank you Keith. It’s good to be here.
Eric, so good to see you back in print! And you’re able to tie your own personal health issues to to the aspirations of our nation at large! Stay healthy and carry on the good fight.
Thank you Jim.
Eric, you have a rare ability to turn even a life-threatening situation into another positive written piece for us to mull over. Keep on truck’n!
Thank you Richard.
I assumed you were partying in Aruba. Good to have you back. Stay well my friend.
JT: Shhh…the hospital story is just cover.
The magic of words and the wisdom of an elder come together in a great article. Of all the ways your experience could of been articulated you chose grace over criticism, which is a tribute to who you really are. Bravo.
Frank: As you know, there’s a lot more to the story; in fact, without you, no story. The unsung heroes are the greatest and you are one of them.
Thanks Eric for the words. I love how you tied immigration, hard work, ambition and caring all together. Get even weller please!
Thank you Diane.
John Michael Flint would be proud of this article. Well done Eric!
Thank you Denny.
Eric: As others have said, it is good to read an original article from you again. Putting your experience with adversity into a positive light in which others receive the credit says a lot about you. This beautiful piece uplifts our thoughts as it appreciates some of what is good about our society.
Thank you Harold.
Eric, take all the time you need to rest. I will be patient. It is a blessing to know you are healing at home. Daily I checked for a post from you, or anyone, after Pastor Dan, it soon became obvious you may have been in some trouble. I missed you. Never think for a moment Valley Citizens do not appreciate your wisdom and compassion even when it rubs the wrong way. You keep us on our toes…
Thank you!
Thank you RootMatters.