{"id":102854,"date":"2013-03-25T21:44:58","date_gmt":"2013-03-26T01:44:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/?p=102854"},"modified":"2013-03-25T22:09:38","modified_gmt":"2013-03-26T02:09:38","slug":"a-stone-but-no-tablet-at-the-emergency-room","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/03\/a-stone-but-no-tablet-at-the-emergency-room\/","title":{"rendered":"A stone, but no tablet, at the emergency room"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

It\u2019s been a difficult few weeks for your friendly neighborhood GetReligionistas.<\/p>\n

First, George endured major<\/a> spinal surgery.<\/p>\n

Then Mollie seriously injured<\/a> her ankle.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve got to tell you: I\u2019ve been praying hard that tmatt \u2014 and not me \u2014 would be the next member of our team struck by a painful malady. But apparently, GR\u2019s head honcho has deeper connections than I realized.<\/p>\n

For me, that realization came just before midnight Friday when an excruciating pain struck my lower back. I immediately suspected the culprit: a kidney stone.<\/p>\n

I had experienced the same ailment last summer and figured I knew how to treat it. I started chugging water and popping Tylenol and Lortab. I ran repeated hot baths and found a little relief in the tub. I repented of many sins and asked God to take away my punishment (I don\u2019t claim perfect theology in the state I was in!).<\/p>\n

Mainly, I lay on my bed and alternated between moaning and groaning.<\/p>\n

I was home alone \u2014 with my wife and daughter visiting my in-laws in southeastern Oklahoma and my sons enjoying down time in San Antonio after a spring-break mission trip to Mexico. At some point, I decided I needed to go to the emergency room, but I didn\u2019t want to call and wake up any of my local friends in the middle of the night.<\/p>\n

By 7 a.m., I couldn\u2019t take it anymore.<\/p>\n

I grabbed the previous day\u2019s pants out of the hamper and put on my Nikes (sans socks). And I drove to the hospital. Fortunately, we don\u2019t live far from Mercy Health Center in Oklahoma City.<\/p>\n

Before I even got to the end of our street, I realized that I had left my cell phone on the kitchen table. For a split-second, I considered turning around and going to get it. I quickly decided against it. I did remember to bring my insurance card.<\/p>\n

The kind folks at Mercy got me into a room quickly. The nurse gave me a gown to change into and a plastic bottle in which to provide a urine sample. I was a little slow providing the sample. So I was standing in my boxers \u2014 having not yet put on the gown \u2014 when the nurse returned. The good news: I was in no condition to be embarrassed.<\/p>\n


\nSoon, nausea and pain meds were flowing through my IV \u2014 and within just a few minutes, I felt a million times better. If I could carry a tune, I would have sung hallelujah for all the hospital to hear!<\/p>\n

Not long after that, they rolled my hospital bed into a CT scan room, where they confirmed a kidney stone. The doc told me it was near my bladder and small enough that it should pass without much trouble (without much \u201cadditional\u201d trouble, I guess I should clarify). He prescribed some meds, and just like that, I was ready to go home.<\/p>\n

Except that the nurse said I couldn\u2019t drive myself given the narcotics I was taking. And except that I left my cell phone at home, and the list of actual phone numbers I know is quite short. I asked the nurse if the hospital had a phone book. It took her a while, but she eventually returned with the Yellow Pages. Those of you old enough to remember phone books will know why that\u2019s funny.<\/p>\n

I did finally reach my wife on her cell phone. She called a friend who \u2014 much to my relief \u2014 picked me up at the hospital and delivered me home.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll be pleased to know (maybe) that I passed the stone and am feeling much better, although I\u2019m still a little weak today.<\/p>\n

That much-too-long personal story is my way of warning you that I\u2019m really in no condition to be critiquing mass media coverage of religion. But life goes on, so I thought I\u2019d call your attention to an interesting story that I came across today.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a piece by Godbeat pro<\/a> Greg Garrison of the Birmingham News.\u00a0<\/em>Here\u2019s the lede:<\/p>\n

Jesus told his disciples at the Last Supper, \u201cDo this in memory of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

But how often should churches celebrate communion?<\/p>\n

While liturgical churches such as Catholics and Episcopalians make Holy Eucharist the centerpiece of weekly worship services, a new survey shows that evangelical churches on average celebrate communion once a month.<\/p>\n

The February Evangelical Leaders Survey asked: \u201cHow often does your church serve communion?\u201d The vast majority (70 percent) said once a month.<\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout church history, Christians have celebrated the Lord\u2019s Table in many different ways and with varying frequency,\u201d said Leith Anderson, President of the National Association of Evangelicals. \u201cRight now, the trend among evangelicals is once a month, which seems to balance taking communion regularly while not replacing the central role of the sermon in most evangelical worship services.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I belong to the Churches of Christ, a non-liturgical fellowship that partakes of the Lord\u2019s Supper each and every Sunday.<\/p>\n

I found Garrison\u2019s angle interesting and compelling and would love to see other religion writers report on the survey and provide more insight and details on the practices of various Christian groups.<\/p>\n

Given the current state of my squishy brain, I believe that\u2019s all I\u2019ll say about the subject for now. I\u2019d urge GR readers to check out Garrison\u2019s full story<\/a> and share your analysis and questions in the comments section.<\/p>\n

And oh, by the way, drink plenty of water and clear liquids.<\/p>\n

Image via Shutterstock<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been a difficult few weeks for your friendly neighborhood GetReligionistas. First, George endured major spinal surgery. Then Mollie seriously injured her ankle. I\u2019ve got to tell you: I\u2019ve been praying hard that tmatt \u2014 and not me \u2014 would be the next member of our team struck by a painful malady. But apparently, GR\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":597,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,27,46,6,12],"tags":[1248,1246,322,1250,1247,1249],"class_list":["post-102854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catholicism","category-evangelicals","category-first-person","category-godbeat","category-religion","tag-birmingham-news","tag-communion","tag-evangelicals-2","tag-getreligionistas","tag-greg-garrison","tag-kidney-stones"],"yoast_head":"\nA stone, but no tablet, at the emergency room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It's been a difficult few weeks for your friendly neighborhood GetReligionistas. First, George endured major spinal surgery. Then Mollie seriously injured\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/03\/a-stone-but-no-tablet-at-the-emergency-room\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A stone, but no tablet, at the emergency room\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It's been a difficult few weeks for your friendly neighborhood GetReligionistas. First, George endured major spinal surgery. Then Mollie seriously injured\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/03\/a-stone-but-no-tablet-at-the-emergency-room\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GetReligion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-03-26T01:44:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-03-26T02:09:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/files\/2013\/03\/shutterstock_104159000-1024x979.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bobby Ross Jr.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bobby Ross Jr.\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/03\/a-stone-but-no-tablet-at-the-emergency-room\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/03\/a-stone-but-no-tablet-at-the-emergency-room\/\",\"name\":\"A stone, but no tablet, at the emergency room\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-03-26T01:44:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-03-26T02:09:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/d54e0199e18cd5740a11902f7217ea10\"},\"description\":\"It's been a difficult few weeks for your friendly neighborhood GetReligionistas. First, George endured major spinal surgery. Then Mollie seriously injured\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/03\/a-stone-but-no-tablet-at-the-emergency-room\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/03\/a-stone-but-no-tablet-at-the-emergency-room\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/03\/a-stone-but-no-tablet-at-the-emergency-room\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A stone, but no tablet, at the emergency room\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/\",\"name\":\"GetReligion\",\"description\":\""The press . . . just doesn't get religion." - William Schneider\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/d54e0199e18cd5740a11902f7217ea10\",\"name\":\"Bobby Ross Jr.\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7fb42afe1d28dbd8c1af42a319911b95?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7fb42afe1d28dbd8c1af42a319911b95?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Bobby Ross Jr.\"},\"description\":\"Bobby Ross Jr. is an award-winning reporter and editor with a quarter-century of professional experience. A former religion editor for The Oklahoman and religion writer for The Associated Press, Ross serves as chief correspondent for the The Christian Chronicle. He has reported from 47 states and 11 countries and was honored as the Religion Newswriters Association's 2013 Magazine Reporter of the Year.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/author\/bobbyross\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A stone, but no tablet, at the emergency room","description":"It's been a difficult few weeks for your friendly neighborhood GetReligionistas. First, George endured major spinal surgery. Then Mollie seriously injured","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/03\/a-stone-but-no-tablet-at-the-emergency-room\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A stone, but no tablet, at the emergency room","og_description":"It's been a difficult few weeks for your friendly neighborhood GetReligionistas. First, George endured major spinal surgery. Then Mollie seriously injured","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/03\/a-stone-but-no-tablet-at-the-emergency-room\/","og_site_name":"GetReligion","article_published_time":"2013-03-26T01:44:58+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-03-26T02:09:38+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/files\/2013\/03\/shutterstock_104159000-1024x979.jpg"}],"author":"Bobby Ross Jr.","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bobby Ross Jr.","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/03\/a-stone-but-no-tablet-at-the-emergency-room\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/03\/a-stone-but-no-tablet-at-the-emergency-room\/","name":"A stone, but no tablet, at the emergency room","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-03-26T01:44:58+00:00","dateModified":"2013-03-26T02:09:38+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/d54e0199e18cd5740a11902f7217ea10"},"description":"It's been a difficult few weeks for your friendly neighborhood GetReligionistas. First, George endured major spinal surgery. Then Mollie seriously injured","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/03\/a-stone-but-no-tablet-at-the-emergency-room\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/03\/a-stone-but-no-tablet-at-the-emergency-room\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/03\/a-stone-but-no-tablet-at-the-emergency-room\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A stone, but no tablet, at the emergency room"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/","name":"GetReligion","description":""The press . . . just doesn't get religion." - William Schneider","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/d54e0199e18cd5740a11902f7217ea10","name":"Bobby Ross Jr.","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7fb42afe1d28dbd8c1af42a319911b95?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7fb42afe1d28dbd8c1af42a319911b95?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Bobby Ross Jr."},"description":"Bobby Ross Jr. is an award-winning reporter and editor with a quarter-century of professional experience. A former religion editor for The Oklahoman and religion writer for The Associated Press, Ross serves as chief correspondent for the The Christian Chronicle. He has reported from 47 states and 11 countries and was honored as the Religion Newswriters Association's 2013 Magazine Reporter of the Year.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/author\/bobbyross\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/597"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102854\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}