Making a New Thing

Posted on March 15, 2017 by Suzanne Montgomery

I was so tempted this last week to clean out my flower beds. The sun was shining. The rain had stopped and everything was beginning to bud. But having lived in Indiana my whole life, I knew it was too soon. New growth needs to be protected by the old dead leaves and plants for a time before it is strong enough to survive. I knew the cold would come again before spring was truly sprung. Today the temperatures are in the teens and snow has been falling off and on for the past 2 days. Indiana weather is predictably unpredictable. I’m so glad that I waited.

But when is the right time to pull off the old so that new growth can be revealed? This is the eternal question asked over many facets of life. Is it the right time to leave the old to start something new? Often old and new must co-habit together for a period.The new is protected like the old leaves protecting the tender spring plants. But at some point, the old must be thrown off or it begins to inhibit the new growth rather than protect it. What is hidden is choked off, never revealed, because the old didn’t allow it. Old ways can hide new opportunities. They can consume us, making change impossible.

After much prayer and pondering, I chose to throw off the old to begin something new. I started working at Raphael Health Center in downtown Indianapolis in early February. It is risky business leaving a sure thing for the unknown. But I felt the Lord moving me forward. My time with IU Health was done. I had accomplished the thing I had set out to do. The Wayne and Washington Township clinics are thriving and ready to move up to higher levels with new providers. They have grown so much that it was impossible for me to manage both of them any longer. This provided a good time for me to leave. It’s always difficult, however, to leave the people in a place more than the place itself. I miss my co-workers and the friends I made along the way. My heart is still with them and my hope is to continue those friendships on a different level now.

God was calling me to Raphael Health Center. I have circled around it for years, doing mission work in the city as a volunteer but not really settling in to living my career as a mission. There is a big difference. Now that I am here, I am fully appreciating this. I have never worked long-term with such a challenging population. Their needs are great and their resources are few. Raphael is a beacon of light in their hopelessness. I may be there to provide healthcare but I could see immediately that my main purpose was to give hope. Where there is no hope, there is no healing. One must proceed the other.

If those of us at Raphael can keep our focus on being the light in this present darkness, then much can be accomplished. We do have resources to make a difference as a Federally Qualified Health Center. But it is easy to become overwhelmed by the vastness of the challenge. Help is offered but it is often not embraced for many reasons: lack of knowledge, transportation issues, cultural and language barriers, addictions, joblessness, disabilities. The list of roadblocks to healthier living is endless. Steadily, slowly, we are changing the neighborhood, one person at a time. In the process, we are being changed into image bearers. We bear the hope and healing given by the Great Physician.

I can see now that the Lord has been molding me for this work for years but I have resisted. He has and is in the process of making me into the person He created me to be. But the old must be thrown off like dead leaves in a spring garden so the new may burst forth.

“See, I am making a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:19

Restoring Freedom

Posted on May 18, 2016 by Suzanne Montgomery

Anyone who really knows me, knows that I love to hike. If I can’t be hiking in a state park, I take walks down the country roads near my home in rural Sheridan. Today was a perfect day for a walk down to the turkey farm with the sun shining brightly and a light, cool breeze. The wild flowers and the grasses are tall along the edge of the roadway and I couldn’t help but touch the tops of them with my hand as I strolled along. What freedom I have that I don’t often ponder enough to appreciate.

My heart aches for those who have had their freedom stolen from them. I have been deluded into thinking that slavery was abolished over a century ago but that thinking was wrong. Today it is estimated that world wide at least 27 million people are held in slavery. This is more than at the height of the slave trade in the 1800’s prior to the Emancipation Proclamation. We don’t tend to call it slavery anymore but name this despicable practice “Human Trafficking”. It is slavery just the same. Much of it is sex trafficking and forced labor. A large portion of its victims are children. These children are held against their will and are used as commodities to profit their captors. The average age of children held in sex trafficking is 12-14 but some are younger than 5. Their stories are heartbreaking.

Last evening the Sheridan Reader’s Club invited the community to the library for a discussion of the book, “Ruby”, a modern day story of human trafficking. It is a fictional work set in the small town in Liberty, Texas but is based on situations experienced personally by the author. Life in Liberty was the antithesis of freedom for Ruby. As a child she was trafficked by people she should have been able to trust and as an adult she struggled to keep her sanity while memories haunted her. This book destroys the presumption that human trafficking is a problem somewhere else in the world. It is in our own backyard.

During our discussion last evening, a presentation was given by local resident, Clair Sample on her experience working with trafficked girls in India. She made a statement that many of the girls rescued had been housed by their captors in rooms no bigger than one of our closets. They would only be out of this containment to be forced to have sex with sometimes more than 20 men a day. Only around 1% of those trafficked are ever rescued. The average lifespan of these victims is 34 years old. Most die from homicide.

The statistics are dismal. What can one person do to make an impact in such an enormous world-wide problem? Mother Teresa once said, “I alone cannot change the world but I can cast a stone across the waters and create ripples.” She certainly created a lot of ripples in her lifetime and so can we. Indiana has a task force called IPATH, Indiana Protection for Abused and Trafficked Humans. Their focus is on education to create awareness so trafficked individuals can be recognized and rescued. They also have a curriculum for middle and high school students to help them avoid being vulnerable to trafficking themselves. Later this summer and next fall, we will be utilizing the expertise of the IPATH facilitators to educate the Sheridan community and students about human trafficking. This was developed through the Attorney General’s office and is free to anyone requesting this educational service.

Freedom is a precious gift that can easily be taken away. I enjoy my freedom while others are held captive. To live comfortably and do nothing is not an option. A prolific writer and holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel, spoke of the perils of inaction. “Indifference is always the friend of the enemy, for it benefits the aggressor—never the victim, whose pain is magnified when he or she feels forgotten. The political prisoner in his cell, the hungry children, the homeless refugees—not to respond to their plight, not to relieve their solitude by offering them a spark of hope, is to exile them from human memory. And in denying their humanity, we betray our own.”

The first step in solving Human Trafficking is the recognition of its existence. The freedom to walk in the sunshine, to touch flowers growing along the roadside, to feel the cool breeze, should not be a privilege enjoyed by some but denied to millions. Once I realized that slavery is more prolific now than ever, I feel compelled to become a modern day abolitionist. As those who have come before me, I can cast a stone to create ripples in the water and be the spark of hope for the captives. One person joined together with other caring souls can make a difference if only we choose to take that first step.

Fighting the Good Fight

Posted on April 17, 2016 by Suzanne Montgomery

It’s the day after the Central Indiana Komen Race for the Cure. I’m a bit sore. It didn’t help that my daughter Rozie, wanted to show me her office in the One America building before the race. The elevator would not let us off at the 22nd floor but took us up to the top. We tried to walk down from there but her ID badge didn’t work to let us out of the stairwell. Let me tell you, walking down 36 flights of stairs is a killer quad exercise-literally. After this we walked the 5K. My 57 year old body was not up for this. But we had great fun and I’m glad I did it.

I know that not everyone agrees with the mission of the Susan B Komen foundation. Believe me, I heard it as I tried to get donations for the race. But regardless of the fact that more money is spent fundraising than what is actually spent on cancer research, I would like to suggest that the Race for the Cure is about a much greater cause.

Most people see cancer as a physical fight for life. But it is even more, a spiritual battle of the mind and will. I’ve spend more than 30 years in the medical field and I’ve witnessed the warfare and walked beside those fighting the good fight more times than I can remember. It’s an honor to be allowed in this confidential space. I have listened to the fear and worry that couldn’t be expressed to family members. Most times, these were not concerns about themselves but for those they were leaving behind. The questions were out of love. “How will my granddaughter take my passing?” or “Who will care for my dogs when I am gone?” Even though they were suffering, their thoughts were always on how their loved ones were coping. Often they would agree to more treatment because their family wanted it, even when they knew in their heart that the fight was done. Over the years, I have learned more about how to live by walking with those who were dying.

So as I see it, the Komen Race for the Cure, is not really about raising money to fight cancer. It is an act of solidarity. There were many cancer survivors there yesterday but there were many more people who participated to simply to show their support. In essence, it was a statement to all those with cancer, “I will walk with you.” This is the strongest promise ever made to someone fighting the good fight. You are not alone, we are standing with you. When you are too weak to go on, we will hold you in our arms. This is an act of love.

For all my cancer patients, those who are survivors and those who have passed on to the next life free of sickness forever, this is for you.

Pushing Back the Darkness

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Suzanne Montgomery

Garrett and friends: Haiti 2011

The dark days of winter are sometimes difficult to bear. At least now we are beyond the winter solstice and the days are slowly lengthening again. For the end of the year, I have been reading Revelation, the last book of the Bible, the bookend of history. It can be a dark and sometimes scary read. But there is light in the darkness, the one constant in history: Jesus. He comes in the clouds in the very first chapter. He is the Alpha and Omega, beginning and end. He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. This is comforting as I read of the hard times to come. It’s not difficult to imagine that the world as we know it will come to an end. We have had the power to destroy ourselves for some time now. I’m surprised in some ways that it hasn’t happened yet. Evil is being held back for a time. We are a part of the holding back whenever we do good-we push back the darkness. I believe that each of us has daily opportunities to do this with a hug, a smile, an encouraging word. We do this when we stand up for what is right. Mercy and Justice. Grace and Truth. These must always be paired together and balanced. One without the other is either legalism or chaos. We have choices every day and in every situation. What or who do I follow? If we don’t push against evil, we are a part of it. This may sound like a strong statement but complacency never absolves us of responsibility. Albert Einstein was quoted as saying, “The world will never be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.”

This is so true. How many times do I find myself thinking, “Why didn’t anyone step in to stop this?” or “Why didn’t anyone help?” It’s reminiscent of the story of the Good Samaritan as told by Dr. Luke in the gospels. Who was it that helped the man hurt by the side of the road? It wasn’t his own people but a despised Samaritan. I think we sometimes miss the audacity of Jesus’ story to his 1st century readers. In today’s terms, this would be like a Palestinian stopping to help an injured Israeli after 2 of his own people have passed him by. Unheard of? Not in the kingdom of God. In Jesus there is no division of race, gender or social status. We’re all children of God called to help each other-no matter what. Together we are to push against the darkness that threatens to obliterate the world on a daily basis-one brave act of goodness at a time.

Do I do this personally or do I contribute to the darkness? I would have to admit the answer is both. I can be kind one moment and then cruel and selfish the next. It seems that there is an outward battle between good and evil and an inward battle that rages in me. The outward battle will never be won unless the inward battle is victorious first. The only way to win either of these battles is to enlist Jesus as my captain. Without him I only have human effort to help me and this is woefully lacking. If I let him lead me, then I am successful. But the reins of control are difficult to hand over to him. I keep trying to take them back over and over again. This is my spiritual journey: to learn to give control of my life to the all-wise One with trust and confidence. Confidence that the end of the story is true. Evil does not triumph. Light will overcome the darkness. God wins!