by Joe Cuda
It was 12 days before halloween as my wife, son, and I walked through the halls of a local hospital. With the attendant pushing my father-in-law in a wheelchair, we were headed for the C. C. U. where he would spend the day undergoing some necessary heart procedures. The night before was very draining emotionally; my mother-in-law was taken to the emergency room of a different hospital 30 miles from our home, making it impossible to be with them both on this day. Needless to say, our family was experiencing considerable stress.
A right turn, a left turn, another left, then a right again, and we were at the entrance of the C.C.U. Much to my surprise, on the door was a poster of a witch. Draped across the poster was yellow tape stating "Caution: Enter if you dare". I thought, "Do I want my father-in-law going through that door?" Of course, I knew he needed to because that was where the heart procedures would take place. So we proceeded through the door.
I was shocked as the door opened -- the lights were dim, and the nurse's station was draped with thick, dangling cobwebs all around it. In the middle, hanging overhead, were four ghoulish heads. Ghost-like figures, skeletons, spiders, bats, and other creatures of the night were splashed around the nurse's station which was at the hub of a half circle of patient’s rooms, each door opening a mere six feet away from this shadowy, eerie presentation. The hallway was clothed with more of the same.
My thoughts immediately went to my father-in-law having to spend the day in this dark environment and how that might affect him negatively. My wife went with him to the room that he would be in for the day. My son and I waited in the hall as the door closed.
A minute later a nurse came back out the door and told me the waiting room for C.C.U. was down the hall. I said, "Thank you", and began to express to her, in a polite tone of voice, how disappointed I was with the surroundings that my father-in-law had to be in all day. The nurse’s response was curt as she told me, “Not everyone has those same feelings!” She whirled around and went back through the door.
My son and I headed to the waiting room. As we entered the place where we would be waiting for the next few hours, I literally had to bend over to avoid getting "cobwebs" in my hair. The only light in there was green and turned down low. More ghoulish faces and skeletons could be seen hanging from the ceiling along with bunches of spiders all around the room. This was just over-the-top, especially for a hospital!
Walking out to see if we could find a waiting room that wasn't covered with all this stuff, my wife came out of the C. C. U. and met us in the hall. As we talked she made this statement, "A hospital should not be a culture of death, but a culture of life!" She hit the nail on the head. In those few words she summed up everything I was feeling, but not quite able to express.
While we were talking, the nurse came out in the hall. My wife shared with her that the hospital should be a place of healing, a place of safety, and a place of life. It should not be a place where death is waved in your face. It should not be a place where the ceiling, walls, and counter tops are dripping with bloody body parts, (though they be artificial) murder, and other occult symbolism.
The nurse said she could do nothing about it, but she would call a supervisor so we could relay our thoughts to a person who would listen and might possibly do something about it. We found a waiting room in the lobby that was not filled with halloween “gore” and told the nurse where we would be.
About 15 minutes later a very nice lady on the hospital board came and met with us. We spoke of our concerns and the view that a hospital should have a culture of life. After listening, she said she would take what we had told her and present it at the next board meeting in a couple weeks. We said thank you and we would be looking forward to hearing the results.
We didn't have to wait for 2 weeks to hear back from her. About 20 minutes later she came back and told us the "culture of death" decorations were being taken down in the C. C. U. waiting room and we could return there. Also, the ghoulish decorations were being taken down and the hospital board would be looking into this and come up with a specific policy regarding halloween for next year, her input being to adhere to a pleasant harvest theme.
My father-in-law's procedure was successful that day and we thanked God that he was doing well. We were also very happy that the visible "culture of death" was being changed into a "culture of life" in this hospital. All it took was someone willing to speak up with a point of view that made sense, and someone else willing to listen and make changes for the better.
Consider these words from a very wise book:
"I am now giving you the choice between life and death, between God's blessing and God's curse, and I call heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Choose life." Deuteronomy 30:19 (GNT)
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