In John’s Gospel, there are two resurrections: the resurrections of Lazarus and Jesus. The greatest miraculous sign Jesus performs prior to his own resurrection is raising Lazarus from the dead, as recorded in John 11. In Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, I find two resurrections—that of Frenchman Charles Darnay and that of Englishman Sydney Carton. In the crucible of the French Revolution, Carton, who bears a striking resemblance to Darnay, exchanges clothes and changes places with Darnay who... Read more

Simon Peter could have benefited from reading Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s book On Death and Dying. It might have helped him grapple with Jesus’ pending death and then the aftermath. Peter appears to have gone through several, possibly all, of Kübler-Ross’s five stages of grief—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance—before and after Jesus’ “Stations of the Cross.” Before reflecting further on Simon Peter, it is worth noting that not everyone goes through all five stages, or in some linear progression. There may... Read more

A pastor friend who visited my son Christopher in the hospital told Mariko and me the pain he felt for us in walking the long corridors to and from his critical care unit. My son is in a coma after suffering a traumatic brain injury several weeks ago. Here’s what Pastor Jim Sequeira wrote to us: “I cannot come close to imagining what you all are going through but after checking in at the front, walking down the back hallway and making... Read more

Not all enduring questions and concerns are welcome ones to ponder. But still, they never get old. Those who seriously examine the human condition over the ages account for intense feelings of finitude and the inevitability of our mortal lives coming to an end, the gnawing question of nihilism and whether life has meaning, and agonizing remorse and regrets over things we have done or failed to do. Such considerations can easily overwhelm us and the inner turmoil they generate... Read more

It doesn’t take something of great size or magnitude in the arena of spirituality or neurology to mess with our entire system. Maybe it is a damaging statement or experience in a longstanding relationship or damaging of a small bodily part. A memory trigger or a loss of memory, a problem with regulating emotion. What will it take for healing to occur? My son Christopher’s hypothalamus was no doubt severely damaged by his traumatic brain injury. After all, functions controlled... Read more

In the lower level of Yale University Divinity School’s library, you will find a small chapel dedicated to the memory of Henri Nouwen. He taught at Yale from 1971-1981. Regardless of the rationale for the chapel being tucked away in a back corner deep in the library, I find its placement quite fitting on a symbolic level for life, especially now. Nouwen was a learned man, who reflected deeply on life. However, it was not in a library or at... Read more

Last night, I replaced an old flower arrangement with some freshly cut tulips in my son’s hospital room. While I told Christopher what I was doing, and while I believe he could hear me in his comatose state caused by a traumatic brain injury, still he could not see the tulips. Given that he cannot see them, one might ask “Why replace the flowers for him?” Well, for one, I told him that I was doing so. My hope is... Read more

Have you ever stood spellbound and mesmerized before a masterpiece in an art gallery? This is what happened to me yesterday, though the painting wasn’t in an art gallery. It was a scene being painted in living color involving a spectacular use of light, darkness, and shadow in a hospital room. My friend Pastor Jim Sequeira went to visit my son Christopher yesterday in the hospital. He is in a coma following a traumatic brain injury suffered earlier this year.... Read more

One’s perspective on life, including critical care situations, goes a long way toward how one approaches each day and every major event. One way of putting the matter is: “Do I see life as a glass that is half empty, or do I see life as a glass that is half full?” How I respond to various challenging circumstances each day depends in part on how I go about answering this question. In the case of my son Christopher who... Read more

In his work as a medical ethicist, my friend and mentor Dr. Robert Potter (M.D., Ph.D.) would instruct his students that “learning statistics is learning probabilities,” not actualities in each individual instance. The problem all too frequently arises that medical professionals “translate probabilities into individuals. That’s not possible.” They mistakenly turn their rightful pursuit of objectivity and realism into “thinking they know what will happen in each and every individual case. They need to understand that they have statistical knowledge,... Read more