It's been awhile... let's do it in style!

At first I thought it'd been over twenty years since my last college course until I remembered I'd taken the Bible overview course at Westminster Seminary in Escondido back in 2005, in preparation for fulltime mission service.  All the same, over 14 years is a pretty long time since attending class, studying, and taking tests for a college course.  It's been especially meaningful, however, as I'm taking this new course (Spanish 3, which is a good fit even though we had tested into higher levels) with my 13 year old son!  Below, our first day of class together, as well as today in the car as we crammed for the midterm. 

Too cool to say it at school?

Last week on Jadon's second day of junior high (in a new district with yet another new start for him, Lord help him), I had the singular joy of reciprocated expression of love: as we parted at the gate I told him I love him, and he was willing to reply with the same, along with the ASL "I love you" handsign.

Contrast that with what happened within days with Evangelina as I brought her to school.  We were walking in from the parking lot and I began to quietly sing my love for her when I was rudely interrupted.  "Shhhh!  Daddy, don't say it so loud!"

"I love you M--"

(In hushed tones...) "--Shhh!  There are people here!"

Then, as Evangelina looks around and noticed that the people passed to a sufficient distance from us, my daughter relents with the command, "OK, now say it."

Sí, soy padre, pero no suyo

With regularity I tell my patients it is an honor to care for them, in part to let them know their value for themselves, but also as a reminder to myself of their value before God... especially when the patient happens to be a "difficult" one, when they bring problems that I feel are beyond my own resources to help them.  I do not like to overstate the spiritual nature of the doctor-patient relationship, but I still am surprised at how much of their lives we are privy to, often even more than their own spouses or parents.  These are amazing God-given opportunities to impact His kingdom in people's lives, whether it be in an overtly spiritual way (eg: praying with them for their needs), or not overtly spiritual at all (eg: carefully listening to and addressing their physical needs).  The other week I was caring for an older Spanish-speaking woman in what I thought was not overtly spiritual at all, and as I finished the visit and got up to leave the room she said, "Gracias Padre" before she quickly corrected herself, "Gracias Doctor." 

It had been a while since a patient mistakenly called me "Pastor" (usually followed by a quick correction "Doctor" in amused embarrassment), but this is the first time I can remember being called "Padre."

Gracias, Dios mio, por este gran recordatorio que mi trabajo me presente las oportunidades para edificar su reino.

Wheels in passing

Today I more formally grieve the loss of my dad's having his own bike.  Even though I'm deeply thankful that he's given it to me (it'll work great for the shorter folk in our family), taking possession of it formally represents what Dad already decided about a year ago: giving up bicycling on the street.  Thankfully there hasn't been any sudden loss of motor function or some terrible accident.  Rather, given the knowledge of his own slowed reflexes and the recent death of a cyclist in his neighborhood (by a very aged driver), he decided it was wise that he stop riding his bike to work, something he actually tried to maintain even after moving from Highland to Loma Linda.  For me, it's a poignant reminder about the different stages of one's life.  My dad was never a super avid cyclist, yet there are a great many memories of his riding to work with his relective pantleg cuffs (which he also gave me), as well as taking Ruthie & me out to different places on bikes.  Gratefully by the time we got to college he upgraded from his super heavy department store Murray (of note, AFTER he had upgraded Ruthie's and mine to bikeshop brand bikes) to the entry-level Cannondale mountainbike without suspension.  As I put it on the bikerack to transport home & later as I wiped it down & put it into our garage, I noted how well he'd taken care of it & how there wasn't a bit of rust to be seen on it.  Thanks, Dad, for instilling in us an appreciation for exercise and helping us understand the usefulness of our bicycles in creating family memories.  I hope to pass that wisdom on to our kids.

Remembering Akong

For all the saints who from their labors rest,

Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,

Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.

Alleluia!  Alleluia!

Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress, and their Might;

Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well-fought fight;

Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.

Alleluia!  Alleluia!

[verses 1 & 2 from “For All the Saints” by William W. How (1823-1897)]

It is good to remember those who have gone before us.

Grandfather, known to us primarily as “Akong,” very soon would have been 100 years old had he survived to this day.  Even though I didn’t know him very well, I miss him and wish I could have spent more time with him. 

The experience my sister Ruthie & I had was a common one for immigrant families: our parents had moved themselves thousands of miles away from their country of origin, and due to the high cost of travel, we only rarely had opportunity to see our grandparents in person.   Communication by phone then was also prohibitively expensive, & such technology like video-conferencing or even simple email was either nonexistent or unavailable to us.  Even if we did have today’s technological means for communication, my sister and I faced a serious language barrier; my own Taiwanese & Chinese speaking abilities at that time were basically zero.  The obstacles to building family relationships were so great, I used to lament that if I happened to walk past the grave of a great-grandparent, I probably wouldn’t even know it.

As such, my own first-hand memories of Akong are positive but scarce.  I remember his caring for Grandmother/Ama, his pushing her around in her wheelchair or bringing her things she needed during our few visits across the Pacific.  I remember that he could speak to me in simple English, & that he spoke kindly of me to those we met.  I remember taking trips with him to the morning market & the park nearby, & that he wasn’t afraid to take shots at the basketball hoop with the younger crowd in Kaohsiung.  I remember the seriousness with which he took the loss of his wife of 50 years.  I remember how he looked physically disturbed when there was strife within the family.  Selfishly, I remember that he would give me red envelopes when we visited.  Gratefully, I remember that even after his passing, he left money that would help pay for my medical education.

Remembering one’s ancestors has been on my mind lately, not only because of the upcoming memorial service for Akong, but also surprisingly because of a movie I recently saw with my 11 year old son Jadon: “Coco,” about a Mexican boy who tries to pursue his dream of a musical career while dealing with a complicated family history going back several generations.  I really enjoyed the movie for its heartwarming storyline, & was even moved to tears at its depiction of the strong desire for family to love one another and to be remembered in love.

The movie centers on the Mexican custom of “The Day of the Dead” (Día de los muertos), a folk adaptation to the church tradition of All Saints’ Day.  During this time, elaborate altars (ofrendas) are constructed to commemorate relatives who have passed away, & these are adorned with candles, flowers, and photographs, along with the dead relatives’ favorite food or drink.  The belief is that these altars & practices are important in the journeys and even existence of the relatives in the afterlife.  I didn’t want to be a killjoy after such a delightful movie, but as we left the theater I told Jadon that I had no illusions of being remembered by my own great-grandkids or afterward, but that I would like him & his sister Evangelina & perhaps their kids (my grandkids, in case I get any!) to remember me both for the good I’ve done (for them to follow), and for the evil I’ve done (for them to avoid and be warned by).  I assured him that he didn’t need to worry if I’m forgotten, because our eternal Maker will always remember His children.  I also let Jadon know that he didn’t need to try to help me along in my spiritual journey after I’ve died, because Jesus already accomplished everything I need through His death & resurrection.

It was no surprise to learn that “Coco” was a box office hit in Mexico, but it was a surprise to me that it fared amazingly well not only in the United States but also in China of all places!  As I thought it through, it made sense, with all the parallels between the Mexican custom of The Day of the Dead and traditional Taoist/Buddhist/Confucian ancestor worship.  Hadn’t I seen countless altars in Taiwanese homes dedicated to the worship of a past relative, complete with incense, photos, as well as offerings of food & drink?  As I looked into the practice more deeply, it turns out that ancestor veneration is quite widely practiced: besides the folk-Catholic customs of Mexico and the Taoist/Buddhist/Confucian customs of Taiwan, many native religions spanning from Africa to the Americas to the Shintoism of Japan also practice ancestor worship/veneration.  To be remembered and cared for even after death turns out to be a surprisingly strong and shared human longing. 

Of course, as Christians we worship our Creator alone, and we reject the need to worship anyone else.  As Christians we entrust the care of those who have died to the capable and loving hands of that same Creator alone, and we reject any fear that they will be harmed if we forget them.  As Christians we entrust the care of our own lives to our wise and powerful God alone, and we reject any fear of reprisals if we mistreat or forget our ancestors. 

All the same, as we worship and trust our Creator alone, we can give thanks to Him as we remember loved ones such as Akong (Philippians 1:3).  In fact, in a strange way it is precisely because of God’s faithfulness working through Akong that I can give thanks for both of them: in spite of the fact that I have few firsthand memories of Akong, by all accounts I know that he accepted God’s offer of grace in Jesus Christ, and tried his best to pass along that grace to the generations that followed him.  In a land where there are meagerly few Christ-followers at all (generous statistics for Taiwan put the figure at 4.5% Christian, split evenly between Protestants and Catholics), passing along this torch was no easy task, yet each of our families as descendants of Akong (& Ama) continue to seek to walk with God in spite of our very real brokenness. 

Akong, poverty stricken as a child, raised his own family to know their spiritual poverty without God.  Akong, an evangelist early in his marriage in a remote mountain church, shared the riches of the Gospel with his own family.  Akong, a schoolteacher and guidance director, taught & directed his own family in God’s ways.  Akong, a community and church servant-leader, served and led his own family to serve and worship God.

Of course I realize that with memorial services (as with funerals), people tend to remember only positive things about one’s life.  I do not doubt that Akong had his own faults and weaknesses, perhaps even glaring ones, as we all do.  I wouldn’t be devastated if there one day were some revelation of some horrible part of his life or character.  He was human, & a sinner at that.  Yet in the area of life which mattered most for eternity, he trusted God’s goodness and passed it along to his kin.  And because of God’s goodness working through Akong, I’ll have plenty of time to get to know him better than I could ever imagine.

O blest communion, fellowship divine!

We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;

Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.

Alleluia!  Alleluia!

And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,

Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,

And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.

Alleluia!  Alleluia!             

 [verses 3 & 4 from “For All the Saints” by William W. How (1823-1897)]

                                                     

-- By S. Stephen Chiayee Wu, December 27, 2017

Open letter to former patients at LLU clinic in Highland, California

Dear Former Patients of Loma Linda University:

It's hard to believe that it's now been 2 years since my departure from the office in my hometown of Highland.  I think of you often & have been wanting to write for quite awhile.  I'm grateful to remain in close contact with the Highland clinic staff.  My prayers are that you too are doing well in all regards, along with your loved ones.  I imagine many of you little ones have sprouted up or perhaps have matured in such a way that I would no longer recognize you even if I walked right by you on the street.  For you adults, I imagine you are trucking along in life, providing for your families, & learning a lot of life's lessons along the way.  For those of you with more complicated medical frailties, I pray that you have been well established with your new providers & are receiving the care you need.

I want you to know that I continue to count it a great blessing to have been able not just to serve you, but also to be served by you as well during my eleven and a half years in Highland.  Being able to serve you helped me immensely in so many ways, ways that I continue to cherish now:
- you patiently helped me grow in "real-world" clinical experience immediately after I finished formal residency training. I often see you in my mind’s eye when I come across similar clinical situations nowadays.
- you cheered me on and made it fun to come to work,
- you opened your lives to me & helped me to understand health and life to be the deep and multi-faceted whole that it is, especially as you came from such varied backgrounds (students, construction workers, health professionals, heroic homemakers, retail salespeople, heating/air conditioning repairmen, athletes, clergy), were of various ages ranging in age from premature infants to nonagenarians, & were of varied cultures and backgrounds. In a very real way I felt like I could understand more about life because you shared the stories of your lives with me.
- you helped me with my foundations of learning to speak in Spanish (Muchos de ustedes me ayudaron con mi fundación de aprendizaje para hablar español.  Sorprendentemente, ahora en mi nuevo trabajo, más o menos dos tercios de mis pacientes solamente hablan español.  Ustedes estarán muy felices para saber que estoy aprendiendo más cada día.  ¡Muchisimas gracias!)

It has often been a wonderful surprise to bump into some of you either on the street in the Inland Empire, online, or even in Orange County.  I was quite dismayed to hear from quite a few of you that you never received the letter we sent out a few months before I left (you can find it attached).  I am so very sorry for having missed you somehow, especially as I felt I inadvertently left many of you in the lurch of having to find another medical home.  While I knew I could leave you pediatric patients in the very capable hands of my colleagues Dr. Hensley & Dr. Antonio, I thought LLU had some new internists who could soon replace me in Highland to take over care of you adult patients.  (I am pleased to inform you that I am told that a very kind and capable Internal Medicine/Pediatrics attending physician by the name of Dr. Lorraine Reverson has been serving at Highland for the last several months, same phone number 909-425-3939.)

I actually seriously considered continuing to work in Highland & commuting from Orange County, but finally decided against it in order to be closer to the family in case of emergency/disaster.  The transition to AltaMed was difficult even though I was graciously received by colleagues and staff, as I felt it took over a year before I finally felt I “got into the groove” of daily workflows.  I’m treating a lot medically indigent people, many of whom deal with such urban conditions as drug addiction, anxiety/depression, and homelessness, & many who do not speak English at all.  Workdays are busy of course, but the 30-45 minute commute each way was tough getting used to!  All in all, I’m grateful to get to know & serve my new patients & have been delighted to note that as with many of you, I’m able to care for multiple generations within families (grandparents to babies).

Family life also has been a challenge as our move was “as fast as molasses” since it took over 4 months after finding a home to make the necessary repairs to live in it, & we have yet to finish unpacking all of our boxes!  The kids are doing fine in their new schools and are quite active in sports, church, and music. Grateful as we are, we still miss quite a few things about life in the IE: friendships, community activities, less traffic, & an overall more sane pace of life.

Anyway, I do hope somehow that this letter will get to the eyes of as many old patients as possible, as I do want you to know that I miss you and pray that you & your families are well & whole in all regards – body, soul, & spirit! I’d love to hear how you are doing!

Blessings,
Dr. Sidney Wu
(December 1, 2017)

Letter of departure to patients of LLU clinic in Highland, California

September 26, 2015

Dearest LLU Patients:

I thought it would be best to write you a letter to let you know about a decision my family & I recently made. I write this letter with great difficulty because I’m not sure where to begin or how best to write what I have to say…

After a few years’ discussion & for multiple family reasons, our family will be moving away to the Santa Ana area in the next months. While originally our plan was that I’d commute to our Highland clinic from Orange County, in the end we decided the commute would be too much of a strain on the family, & I accepted a job offer with a non-profit clinic closer by. Accordingly, my last day in our Highland LLU clinic will be Tuesday December 1, 2015.

One reason I wanted to write you was to let you know how much I have appreciated you. For those who were at Highland when I joined faculty in 2004, you may recall that my time with LLU was originally planned to be a short 2 years as I prepared to serve fulltime at a hospital in Niger (west Africa). Painful personal issues, & then important family concerns altered that course dramatically, but little did I realize that in lieu of a life of adventure overseas, I would be given 11 ½ years of adventure serving you here in my own hometown of Highland/San Bernardino.

I want you to know that I have considered it a great honor to serve your families (in many cases 3 generations at once!), to watch you enter different stages of life, to learn so much about life from you (eg: phrases in your native tongues), and to share your sorrows & your joys as we worked through many difficult medical conditions together. I have considered my role in your lives to be a sacred calling, & I pray that God used me to touch your families with a kind of wholeness that includes physical health, to be sure, but extends far beyond.

Another reason I wanted to write was to assist in the whole transition process. In case you need to tie up any medical issues with me, please be sure to go forward quickly with the studies & referrals we have recommended, and set your follow-up appointments with me as soon as possible so that we can formulate a clear care plan before I leave December 1.
For my pediatric patients, please know that I leave you in the very caring & capable hands of my pediatric colleagues already well established here at Highland. For my adult patients, you may recall that we Med-Peds (combined internal medicine & pediatrics) doctors are a rather rare breed here in the West, so our transition plan is still in flux. Please see the attached letter for information from our department regarding this transition. Your patience with us in this whole process is greatly appreciated, & you may check in with Highland’s front desk staff for any updates.

Again, thank you for the honor of serving as your physician during this very meaningful season of my life. I pray for your continued growth & health, & I’d very much appreciate your prayer as well during our transition as we care of present family needs as well as plan for the future (overseas service is still our hope). In a very real way, I will miss you.

Blessings Until We Meet Again,
Sidney Wu, MD, FAAP, FACP

"Christmas 2014" letter

May the Showers of Christmas JOY Bring Blossoms of LIFE in the New Year!

Dearest Friends & Family:

     Thanks so much for your patience with our “Christmas 2014” letter, though admittedly I should probably call this an early Lunar New Year letter!

     In the past we have told you that each year felt like a blur.  2014, in contrast, felt like it flew by in a blink!  Too many things happened through this year for me to recount, but here are a few of our more memorable moments as a family:

Peace in Pieces

     Back in April while our family was in the car, Evangelina (3) – as often is her custom -- was singing quietly to herself while the rest of us were talking.  She started one of the songs we often sing to her, a song of blessing: “The Lord bless you & keep you…”, but as she continued with each line of the song her singing became louder & louder, with the last line of the song being repeated over & over (& over!).  It got so loud that the rest of us had to speak louder & louder as well just to hear each other.  Pretty soon we couldn’t hear ourselves over Evangelina’s singing: “AND GIVE YOU PEACE, & GIVE YOU PEACE, & GIVE YOU PEACE FOREVER!!!  AND GIVE YOU PEACE, & GIVE YOU PEACE…!!!”

Nervous Observation

     Another time, Evangelina was playing rough with me (Sid) & knocked into my face & glasses.  We’re pretty strict about the kids not touching our glasses (primarily because we've had so many pairs broken when Jadon was a baby), so I gave her a stern look with my glasses knocked down to the tip of my nose.  I was waiting for her to say, “Sorry Daddy for touching your glasses.”  Instead Evangelina, wanting to break the tension, gave me a nervous smile & said, "Hey, you’re like a Grandma!"  This & many other funny comments she made from her growing understanding of the world left us in stitches throughout the year.

Following the Bottom Line

     As for Jadon (8), one thing we’ve continued to enjoy is watching him think “outside the box.”  In September we got dinner at Chick-Fil-A which included a kids' meal that came with a compass!  He was excited to start using it, & marveled at how its needle always points north.  It was a good review of directions (north, south, east, west) for him, & how each direction relates to the other.  As we were driving home, we tried to reinforce his learning with some friendly drills: "What direction are we facing now...?  How about now...? Which direction is to our right...?"  He was finally getting the hang of it, so we decided to throw in some of our customary goofball questions: "Now which way are we heading?"

     "South," he replied.

     "Very good! So which way is our butts facing?"

     We expected him to say “North."

     His innocent response?  "Down."

Rock, Paper, Superlatives

     Later in the fall, Jadon was playing Rock-Paper-Scissors (in Chinese: "Jian-dao, Shi-tou, Bu") with Daddy in creative ways.  While at the YMCA pool, we started playing a version such that whenever we're underwater, the rules are 'upside down': scissors beat rock, paper beats scissors, rock beats paper.  Another time while we were playing in the car, we started coming up with new objects to beat the other: we both came up with the “bomb” (which beats rock, paper, & scissors)... then quickly went on to more zany objects.  It went like this:

TOGETHER:

Jian-dao, Shi-tou, Bu!

(ALMOST SIMULTANEOUSLY)

JADON: earthquake!

DADDY: the sun!

Obviously, I won that round, to Jadon's chagrin. Then, with Jadon's eyes widening with the determination to beat me...

TOGETHER:

Jian-dao, Shi-tou, Bu!

(ALMOST SIMULTANEOUSLY)

DADDY: galaxy!

JADON: God's hand!

Needless to say, the game was over with Jadon victorious & both of us howling with laughter… what else could beat God’s hand?

Entering the Kingdom of God

     A more poignant story comes from one of the times we dropped in on Jadon while the kids were at their local Bible club.  Jadon’s teacher asked, “How do you enter the kingdom of God?” to which Jadon replied with a list of good things he had to do, including "listen to your parents."

     I (Sid) was truly saddened at hearing Jadon’s answer.  Thankfully his teacher corrected him and pointed him to trusting in the work and person of Jesus, but I couldn’t help but think to myself, “What am I doing wrong?"  It struck me that it is an uphill battle for us to teach our children the truth, not simply with words but with day-to-day living, that entering the kingdom of God is simply receiving the gift of what King Jesus has done for us in his life, death, & resurrection.  Weren’t we ready to travel 1000s of miles to live in another culture and speak in another language with the intention of sharing this very, very good news?  How had I failed in sharing this news with my own children?
     To be sure, the things Jadon listed in his answer to his Bible club teacher were good & right in themselves.  God in His Word even tells us to do them (I especially like the "listen to your parents" thing!), yet we know that it aches His heart when we think that by following a list of dos & don'ts we can earn enough merit to enter His kingdom.  Our Heavenly Father's unyielding desire is to trust in Him & what He has accomplished for us.  Where was the "disconnect" between my words & my practice before our children?  Was Jadon seeing in me a frantic life of self-reliant, self-centered dos & don'ts?
     Dear Friends & Family, JJ & I are grateful for your love & are often a bit embarrassed at how difficult it is for us to stay in touch with most of you given our limitations.  We pray that your own Christmas was a season of pondering God's gifts, & that your new year is filled with living out the joy & thankfulness (&, as Evangelina will remind us, PEACE!!!) that comes from God's great gifts to us.

With Blessing,

Sid for the Wus

Christmas letter 2014

Like Sid's life itself, our family's Christmas letter is under construction!  (come back in 2 weeks?)

An Open Letter to the Leadership of the American Academy of Pediatrics

 An Open Letter to the Leadership of the American Academy of Pediatrics

March 21, 2014

Dear Colleagues of the American Academy of Pediatrics:

Since joining the AAP fourteen years ago, I have been grateful for the AAP’s role in scientific inquiry, dissemination of medical knowledge, and the promotion of the health of children. During my combined residency in internal medicine and pediatrics, I was humbled to receive the AAP’s International Travel Grant in support of my service to children under the training of a missionary doctor in Nigeria. As an AAP Fellow, I have been grateful for the opportunities to network with other professionals in our field to advance our knowledge toward the end of serving children.

It was precisely because I have held the Academy in such high standing, that I read with such sorrow and dismay the Academy’s Policy Statement, “Promoting the Well-Being of Children Whose Parents Are Gay or Lesbian," released one year ago today, which expressed the Academy's support for “homosexual marriage.”

Exactly because I have been grateful for the AAP, and because I am indeed dedicated to the health of all children, I must express my most strenuous objection to this Policy Statement. While I do not have reason to doubt the Policy Statement’s authors’ genuine desire for the good of children, I cannot help but wonder if the Academy has in part bowed to the calculated political influence of a powerful lobby, especially when the Policy Statement’s release was clearly timed to coincide with last year's US Supreme Court’s hearing of related cases.

The basic foundation undergirding my objection to the Policy Statement in question is this: Any and all attitudes and behaviors which violate or devalue the boundaries of God-defined marriage between one man and one woman, are in fact harmful and unhealthful toward all involved, including children. This is true no matter the sexual orientations of those involved: homosexual, bisexual, transgender, or heterosexual. Such examples as pornography, premarital sex, polyamory/polygamy, easy divorce and remarriage, domestic violence, and non-committal cohabitation are harmful because they fail to recognize the profound goodness and wonder of God-given marriage and sexuality, with its unique and complementary femaleness and maleness.

As physicians, we are broken people seeking to help others in their brokenness in a broken world. With honest introspection and openness toward others, each last one of us – through the influences of our genes, hormones, and environment – is deeply affected by brokenness, including in our sexuality. The young person who discovers that he is dealing with homosexual drives needs a pediatrician who will HELP him in his brokenness: listen to his concerns with a nonjudgmental ear, inform him of the risks and benefits of various choices, protect him from any and all bullying, and insofar as he is willing to receive them, provide him with the supports needed for him to live chastely. Further, this young person needs his doctor to commit to stand with him for his long-term health and well-being, and be willing to help him deal with the consequences of his decisions, even if those run contrary to the doctor’s recommendations. What this young person does NOT need is for his pediatrician to endorse his brokenness as good and right, or encourage him to act out his broken urges.

Compassion and respect for others’ worth and dignity, no matter what their attitudes or behavior, is commendable. Endorsing attitudes and behavior which are harmful and unhealthful to individuals and society is not to be commended, yet this is what the AAP has done in its seemingly enlightened position statement in support of “homosexual marriage.” I have no reason at present to believe that the studies cited in the statement intentionally set out with the agenda to affirm homosexuality as a normative lifestyle, but it is clear that one’s presuppositions vastly affect one’s study design, methodology, and interpretation of data. I believe that in time, as has been true in many other areas of medicine, study design flaws and data interpretation errors will come to light when better research (perhaps when this political hot-button cools) will affirm the truth of the rightness, goodness, and healthfulness of marriage between one man and one woman over all alternatives, for the health of the adults and the children they raise.

My unabashed conviction in this matter is based on a plain reading of Christian scripture, which not only sheds light on our world full of broken people like myself, but also gives hope for a full and joyful life in spite of our brokenness. I do not pretend to represent all of Christendom, though I do know that I speak for a great many Christians, as well as a great many people of other faiths on this particular issue. For us, our scriptures have served not only as the internal moorings of life and ethics, but also through history as the impetus for the establishment of universities and hospitals – incubators of scientific inquiry and advancement – often in regions with great need and suffering.

These moorings are important in part because we people of faith are sometimes accused of fear-mongering when we question, in this case, those who would seek to expand marriage to homosexual relationships: “Where would it stop? Should 3 or more consenting adults be able to marry? What about consenting adult siblings?” For the sake of gaining acceptance, proponents of “homosexual marriage” have insisted that their fight is simply to extend marriage rights to homosexual couples, but they ignore the socio-legal landscape where many (including from the LGBT community) already openly challenge marriage’s lifelong exclusivity to two people. How would today’s monogamy-supporting proponents of “homosexual marriage” counsel a bisexual woman who seeks to “marry” both her partners? I do not doubt that flawed sociological research could one day support the “healthfulness” of such a “marriage” threesome, especially in a political climate that pushes for it. These are very real scenarios we must consider, as we humbly embrace our ethical moorings as broken people with hope.

As a concerned father and physician to many generations of families, I urge the Academy to retract its Policy Statement supporting “homosexual marriage,” to refrain from embarking on further social experimentation in such uncharted waters, and to hold fast to the moorings of upholding traditional marriage between one man and one woman as best for the health and well-being of all children.

In Earnest,

Sidney Wu, MD

Fellow, American Academy of Pediatrics

Fellow, American College of Physicians

Diplomate, American Board of Pediatrics

Diplomate, American Board of Internal Medicine

Assistant Professor, Pediatrics

Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine

Loma Linda University School of Medicine

11

Christmas respects from the Wus in strange specs!

Dearest Friends & Family:

In true "Sidney Wu fashion," this letter is finally being written in the wee hours of Christmas morning. (My apologies to those who looked earlier for this letter but couldn't find it!)

Another blur of a year has come & gone, so full of events that it's tough to know how to summarize them all in a way that makes sense! Here's my attempt anyway:

Evangelina, now 2 ½, is our rapidly growing bundle of expressive energy whom we liken to a little sponge. She takes in nearly EVERYTHING around her: words, food (she often out-eats Mommy!), funny facial expressions, people’s mannerisms, or the way people dress. With all she observes from others, she often has the rest of us in stitches with how she puts together her own singularly hilarious style. We wonder a little if her feistiness is by nature or by necessity as she is growing up with the boisterousness of an active older brother. We pray that she will use her gifts of observation & energy to bring joy & laughter to many in her lifetime.

Jadon, 7, constantly amazes us with what he is learning, & 2013 was a big year for him. In May he was baptized at our home church, and in spite of his underlying trust in God he has verbalized tough questions from his young heart & mind: “How do we know God is there?” “Why is it so hard to be loving?” “What happens after we die?” “I prayed for something but it didn’t happen, so why should I pray?” We are grateful for (& sobered by) his questions, & while we don’t have all the answers, we try to lead him to the God who does. We’re grateful Jadon has a heart to serve at church & cross-culturally (he joined a mission group to Mexico this year), as our prayer is that he will see his inquisitiveness & abilities as tools to seek & serve God throughout his life.

Our kids' growth & development would not be possible without the fulltime mothering JJ gives them, as she upkeeps the household on top of putting in fulltime hours with the work she does mostly from home. It is amazing to me how much she accomplishes in service to us in light of real limitations of time, health, & energy. When I asked her what she thought was her biggest accomplishment of 2013, she replied (after some thought), "Nothing." The kids & I know that without her sacrificial love, we would not have been able to achieve our own successes. We are grateful to know that she deeply enjoys helping our children succeed. May the Lord bless her for her sacrificial service.

2013 for me (Sid) was another year of the busy privilege of caring for patients in my hometown (Highland/San Bernardino). Somehow, the workload seemed busier than in past years, & I haven't yet concluded whether it was because of a change in my perspective (have my patients’ problems seemed to be more weighty?), change in expectations (from patients, colleagues, insurance companies?), or something else. In the spring I took & passed the Internal Medicine board recertification exam, which was tough amidst the busyness of work & home (it’d been years since I'd fallen asleep drooling on my books at the library!). Praise the Lord!

All in all as a family, 2013 was a year of learning. We are learning to love each other in our roles as children & parents. "Being a dad," a wise medical student once told me, "is the daily process of learning how to be less selfish." (It's been a tough lesson to learn, especially because I had no idea just how deep my selfishness runs!) Everything we try to teach them (whether games or school, how to wash dishes or how to love one another) is a challenge because we find we have to learn them better ourselves.

A huge thing we are learning as a family is what gifts we have in each other. This is difficult to see at times to be sure (terrible twos, anyone?). This is especially true when the combination of our busyness & limitations makes it easy to take each other for granted. When we remember how God rescued us & brought our family together, though, we are grateful to Him for each other.

We realize that our limitations have made us less available to meet or talk with many of you (even those close by) in ways we would otherwise love to do. Please do know that we have not forgotten you (some emails have taken us over a year to respond to as we wanted to respond with proper weightiness), that we care, & that we pray that some of our limitations would soon be lifted. We do welcome your contacts (especially as we do make an effort to pray for your concerns), but do also warn that sometimes there will be significant delay in our responses.

May your Christmas & New Year be full of joy & meaning in Christ!
Sidney for the Wus

"Behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10, 11)


Jadon & Evangelina's silly sayings:
- Early in the year, when Daddy called Jadon to come ("lai" in Chinese) from across the house, he replied, "I am lai-ing!!"
- Another time, when Jadon & I were talking about Zimbabwe & its economic & health needs, Jadon excitedly said, “I know! When I get older I can go to Zimbabwe & be a doctor & only charge 50 cents a visit, & if they’re really, really poor I can give them $20 cash back!”
- In the summer, as I was putting the kids into the car, I buckled Evangelina in, & she spontaneously said, "Thank you." Jadon jokingly said, "Thank you" too, to which Evangelina abruptly retorted, "No! MY thank you!"
- Just recently, Evangelina bent over close to Jadon who was playing with his toys. Afraid she would mess up what he was trying to build, Jadon called out, "Stop Evangelina! Don't touch my stuff! Don't touch my stuff!" Indignant, Evangelina bopped Jadon's head & clarified, "No! I hug you!"... & proceeded to hug her brother.

Christmas letter 2012

Dear Friends & Family:


Yet another year comes to a close, & we feel in many ways that it has gone by so quickly. Quite frankly, 2012 was an extraordinarily tough year for our family, in large part because we heard a lot of sad news from many of you: severe downturns of health & even deaths of those close to us, as well as the heartache of broken relationships. For those still reeling from your losses, please know that we continue to mourn with you & pray that God’s comfort & deep joy would be yours in Christ.

Despite 2012’s passing by so quickly, it was still a very eventful year for us! And in spite of what seemed to be an underlying tone of grief, there were many great joys we experienced as well. Evangelina, now 20 months old, is our beautiful little parrot who’s begun to experiment putting 2 & 3 words together (eg: “I wanna sleep” or “I don’t want it”). Much her mother’s girl, she loves to dance (to any type of music), & often copies Mommy’s doings around the house: reading & “working” at her own little desk, & even mopping the floor on her knees with her own napkin. She continues to share a very special bond with big brother Jadon, with whom she has no problem asserting herself. We are grateful for how Evangelina’s antics (especially as she grows so rapidly before our eyes) give us a daily dose of laughs.

Jadon, now 6.5 years old, is also a little comedian in his own right, as you can imagine. This year he learned to devour books (we’re often at the library getting him more), & he has begun to have fun with puns & rhyming words. Last winter Jadon started playing organized basketball, & he continues to thrive at soccer. With mom teaching him, he continues to learn piano at a good pace, though when writing about it he often unknowingly spells it “paino” (which we chucklingly suspect might have something to do with his attitude toward practice sometimes). With nearly every breakfast, we take out his globe & talk about what God is doing in a specific country in the world. It is wonderful to watch him grasp things that I (Sid) didn’t understand until much later (eg: what a republic is, or how selfishness causes wars). We continue to pray that God will cultivate in Jadon a sense of service for our broken world’s many needs.

The biggest event in JJ’s life this year was taking on a full-time job after we prayerfully agreed it was good & right in spite of knowing it would not help us financially & instead would be a serious challenge to our family’s limited resources (with the hope that this “burning the candle at both ends” will be limited to a few short years). JJ is learning to juggle this new responsibility amidst caring for our two children, which she continues to do with deep, sacrificial love. She takes each of her obligations seriously, which leaves her precious little time to relax & forces her to put on hold many projects she still hopes to tackle one day. In spite of my (Sid’s) offers to take the family out or my feeble attempts at helping with housework, JJ still manages to bless us with her cooking, cleaning, & upkeeping of our household in top shape! Indeed, seeing each of us grow & thrive gives JJ great joy.

As for Sid, 2012 was another year of learning how to be a good father, husband, doctor, & church member amidst the real trials of life & in spite of very real shortcomings. At work, in addition to the usual patient care & instruction of medical students in his hometown of Highland, California, there were new responsibilities to learn (especially caring for group-home residents), a new computer system to wrestle with, as well as specialty board recertification processes to stay up-to-date with. Sid continues to find caring for his patients (minus the paperwork) very gratifying, & he & JJ continue to hope to bring our service overseas when the time is right. At home, one of Sid’s greatest challenges has been to follow the wisdom of author Tedd Tripp in raising our children with a grand vision of God that they can grow into, rather than “cutting God down” into bite-sized pieces they would soon outgrow.

Keeping life in its proper perspective has been particularly tough for us as parents in 2012 in light of all that’s on our plate. Still, something that has struck us in the last year or so serves as a continual reminder about the right priorities in life: our children have within them an incredibly deep, pressing, God-given yearning for us as their parents. Don’t get us wrong; we do NOT mean that our children are perpetually happy with us or that they like everything about us. We also do NOT mean that we’re ideal parents (we fail very often), or that our children are compliant & obedient all the time (they often are not). Further, we do NOT mean that their yearning for us looks the same at each stage of their lives. What we DO notice is that there seems to be a consistent yearning for us to praise their accomplishments, give them meaning in life, lead them in the right direction, & guard them with healthy boundaries. For instance, the pain of physical injury (from Evangelina’s minor bumps at home to Jadon’s running collisions with other kids on the soccer field) is so often subdued by simply realizing that Daddy or Mommy knows how they feel & cares deeply (which we show with a look, a kiss, or a hug).  One afternoon when Jadon & Sid were outside a few months ago, Sid offered Jadon more time to ride his bicycle while Sid finished up the yardwork. Jadon actually preferred to take in the trashcan, & loudly declared, “I wanna be wherever you are.” What a humbling thing for Daddy to hear!

Even when we need to discipline Jadon & Evangelina when they defy us, we can see in their eyes the desire for us to be pleased with them, to accept them fully as they are, to love them, & to be committed to their growth. We realize that their desire for us, while God-given, often is tainted with self-interest or is faulty in its intensity compared to other good desires (eg: for learning healthy independence, or for serving God); it is precisely because these desires are corrupted that our children sometimes throw tantrums or are disobedient in some way or another (eg: for our attention). Even when their desire for us is pure, we realize also that we often disappoint them; I (Sid) can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to ask Jadon’s or Evangelina’s forgiveness when I knew my harsh words clearly disheartened them.

The funniest thing about all of this is that we realize we are JUST LIKE our kids. Yes, we’re like them in part in our desire for our own physical parents, but more deeply so in our desire for our Heavenly Father. It turns out that our desire for our physical parents (in all its brokenness) seems to be a shadow of our deeper longings for God (Matthew 6:9; John 1:12-13; Romans 8:14-15). We, along with our children, most deeply yearn for our Heavenly Father’s pleasure, acceptance, love, & commitment to our growth. The wonderful thing about this desire is that when we trust on Jesus' life & death for us, we HAVE all of these in full: our Heavenly Father IS pleased with us (Romans 5:1), He DOES totally accept us (Colossians 1:21-22), He DOES deeply loves us (1 John 4:9-11), & He IS committed to our growth (John 3:3-6).

Indeed, we are learning a lot as parents, & we’re grateful for the laboratory of life called “family” that God has blessed us with, so that we can grow & learn lessons that we would never otherwise know.

As we celebrate Jesus’ birth at Christmastime, our prayer is that each of you would join us in learning to find our desires purified & fulfilled in our Heavenly Father. No matter what lies ahead, may He guide & strengthen each of you in the new year.

Love,

Evangelina, Jadon, JJ, & Sid

PS: We would love to hear how all of you are doing. Feel free to update us at any of our contact information, though (sorry!) our replies may take awhile!

PPS: Come back again; more photos to come!

Christmas letter 2011 (with apologies for its lateness!)

friend's birthday party

morning after delivery

brotherly love

aww...

first day of school

futbol!

at a wedding

Dear Friends & Family!

As we look back on 2011, the best word to describe it for us is a BLUR. It was a blur not simply because it was filled with many important events, but also because quite often we have been sorely sleep-deprived and extremely busy!

The biggest event of this year was the April birth of our second child Evangelina Joy at 6 pounds, 13 ounces & 19 ½ inches long. In fact, nearly every day is a new event with her, as she is a bright & happy baby who amazes us with how quickly she learns things. She loves laughing at her big brother’s antics (they share a very special bond), “talking” in her own way, & “standing” on her own for a few seconds when she gets the chance. Early on after delivery there was a months-long health scare, & we are grateful to God who heard many of your prayers & mercifully healed her. Evangelina Joy’s name means “the joy of God’s good news,” & she is truly a constant reminder of God’s kindness to us.

Jadon, 5, has had a big year of many “firsts.” Not only has he been learning for the first time to be a good big brother (he’s usually tender with Evangelina & can sometimes be growlingly protective of her toward others!), but 2011 also was his first year in elementary school. It’s been tough (for Daddy too!) learning the ropes of having an early schedule, but our little people-person has enjoyed getting to know his classmates at our local public school. This year for the first time he also got to play an organized sport (soccer), & through the efforts of Mommy & extended family, Jadon has also served our local church with music (voice & piano). We’re grateful for the many things he’s learning, but we’re most grateful for the way he continues to grow in his understanding of the Gospel & the needs of our broken world. Please join us in prayer that Jadon will use everything he learns to serve our very good God.

JJ, staying home this year amidst the pregnancy & caring for the kids, has been quite literally giving of herself for the good our family, especially seeing to the physical, mental, & spiritual well-being of the children. Much of their learning & abilities are directly a result of Mommy’s sacrificial love for them. Much a “big city gal” at heart, it’s been quite an adjustment living in the Inland Empire, but she enjoys our frequent get-aways for real Taiwanese food, especially shaved ice (a treat for me too!).

As for me (Sid), this year has been one most characterized by growing in the knowledge of what it means to be a husband & father of two. More times than I can remember, on the occasions Jadon has crawled into bed with Mommy & Daddy (with Evangelina in a side-car crib next to us), I have laid there in the still darkness & marveled at the great gift of being a family with JJ & the kids. We look forward to what the Lord has in store for our family, & we pray that what we are learning in our young marriage (sometimes making us unavailable for other real concerns around us) would serve as the bedrock of Christ’s holy love for future ministry.

We’re especially grateful for our local church body (Messiah Lutheran Church) which has welcomed our family, encouraged our service, & reminded us of the truth of God’s love. One thing that tickles us is seeing our more seasoned brothers & sisters live out God’s love for one another. One couple in particular comes to mind: John & Kathy, who celebrated 64 years of marriage this year. Early in the year during Sunday morning prayer-time, Kathy offered a prayer of thanks & praise for “our husbands who take care of us when we’re ill.” Later, after another Sunday worship service, when Kathy was talking to one of the ladies, I (Sid) overheard her saying, “I feel like I’m falling in love with that old man all over again.”

God is so, so good, isn’t He? We pray that His unfathomable & unwavering love would be yours in Christ Jesus this Christmas & through the new year.

With Love,
Evangelina, Jadon, JJ, & Sid

Daddy's favorite photos 2009.04.08-08.07

"Streams in the Desert" (July 29 entry) by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman

If we could see beyond today

As God can see;

If all the clouds should roll away,

The shadows flee;

O'er present griefs we would not fret.

Each sorrow we would soon forget,

For many joys are waiting yet

For you and me.

If we could know beyond today

As God doth know,

Why dearest treasures pass away

And tears must flow;

And why the darkness leads to light,

Why dreary paths will soon grow bright;

Some day life's wrongs will be made right,

Faith tells us so.

"If we could see, if we could know,"

We often say,

But God in love a veil doth throw

Across our way;

We cannot see what lies before,

And so we cling to Him the more,

He leads us till this life is o'er

Trust and obey.

Though it'd been sitting on my shelf for years, I didn't begin to read the book Streams in the Desert until it was commended to me by a lady I met in a nursing home. I had met her many months earlier, & each time I saw her she was constantly tending to the needs of her husband who was a resident there receiving rehabilitation due to a severe stroke that left him half-paralyzed & mostly unable to speak.

As I read the book according to its dated entry for each day of the year, I think of the old couple in the nursing home at times, & feel a sense of solidarity with them as we each face quite difficult struggles of life. Recently as I was speaking to another sister-in-Christ who is my patient about some of her painful problems, she quoted to me what she was learning from Streams in the Desert, which she was reading in Arabic (the classic book, originally published in 1925, has been translated into many languages). There was a joyful moment of expanded solidarity that day in my clinic as we briefly shared how much God has been using this book to minister to our needs.

It is humbling to know I am part of this great organism called the Church, & that God uses us -- old & young, of widely varied cultures -- to minister to one another in His name.

Daddy's favorite photos 2008.11.08-2009.04.07

Daddy's favorite photos of Jadon 8/8/2008 - 11/7/2008

Isaiah 58

Cry aloud; do not hold back;
Lift up your voice like a trumpet;
Declare to my people their transgression,
To the house of Jacob their sins.
Yet they seek me daily
And delight to know my ways,
As if they were a nation that did righteousness
And did not forsake the judgment of their God;
They ask of me righteous judgments;
They delight to draw near to God.
‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not?
Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,
And oppress all your workers.
Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
And to hit with a wicked fist.
Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high.
Is such the fast that I choose,
A day for a person to humble himself?
Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
And to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Will you call this a fast,
And a day acceptable to the LORD?

Is not this the fast that I choose:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the straps of the yoke,
To let the oppressed go free,
And to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
And bring the homeless poor into your house;
When you see the naked, to cover him,
And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
And your healing shall spring up speedily;
Your righteousness shall go before you;
The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;
You shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you take away the yoke from your midst,
The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
If you pour yourself out for the hungry
And satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
Then shall your light rise in the darkness
And your gloom be as the noonday.
And the LORD will guide you continually
And satisfy your desire in scorched places
And make your bones strong;
And you shall be like a watered garden,
Like a spring of water,
Whose waters do not fail.
And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
You shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
You shall be called the repairer of the breach,
The restorer of streets to dwell in.

If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,
From doing your pleasure on my holy day,
And call the Sabbath a delight
And the holy day of the LORD honorable;
If you honor it, not going your own ways,
Or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;
Then you shall take delight in the LORD,
And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

This Road

A million miles away from anything familiar,
A thousand places I would rather be,
So I choke back the tears & try to find the bright side
Though I find it hard to see beyond my suffering.

In my heart I know Your plan is so much bigger,
But this small part is all that I can see,
& I believe You haven't left me here to wander.
Still I can't help but ponder where You're leading me,

& I ask, why this road, why this way, & this load?
Tell me how far must I go 'til I see, 'til I know why
This road...

A million miles away from anything familiar,
What was it like to be so far from home?
& though You came in love, the world misunderstood You.
There must have been some days when You felt so alone,

But You endured 'cause there was joy before You,
Joy that came because You sacrificed,
Since You gave Yourself just to spend forever with me,
Surely I can trust You'll lead me through my darkest times,

When I ask, why this road, why this way, & this load?
Tell me how far must I go 'til I see, 'til I know why.
From here I cannot see why You choose this path for me,
But I don't have to understand to believe that You know why...

You know why this road, why this way, & this load;
You know how far I must go 'til I see, 'til I know why
This road...

("This Road" by Ginnie Owens)

Believe the Gospel

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:28-32)

Just last weekend I was invited to a banquet to celebrate God’s goodness to the students who took part in the Medical Strategic Network’s (MSN’s) month-long intensive training course. These 34 students had come from around the world to learn how to live as Jesus’ followers in their vocations as health professionals, with a special emphasis on sharing the Gospel with patients.

MSN so profoundly & positively influenced my life & practice of medicine during my own training, that for the past few years I gladly accepted the honor of having their students shadow me in my clinic. To God’s glory, many students & staff expressed their appreciation for what they learned from me, but in past years I wasn’t able to attend to their celebration banquets. Not only was this year to be my first chance to attend the banquet, but I was also asked to be among a few staff who would give concluding remarks -- a special charge to the departing students.

It didn't take long for me to think of what to share. My own soul has been so dry of late, it was a message I knew I myself needed to hear -- I was probably the one who needed to hear it the most. I wanted this message to penetrate my own heart, & I also hoped it would be something that would encourage the students to see life with simple, Biblical perspective.

As I followed three spiritual giants up to the podium, I of so little faith gave the following charge [edited for clarity]:

Over the past weeks you have learned much about the Gospel: how to live it, & how to share it. My charge to you this evening is something that I'm sure undergirds & intertwines with so much of all that you've learned these weeks that it seems obvious, but it's still worth emphasizing lest it gets lost in all the shuffle: BELIEVE the Gospel!

As you head away from Redlands in the next days you will face many temptations that will oppose everything that you've learned here:

- You will have residents & other superiors who will tell you to "HURRY UP," to "leave out that religious stuff."

- Someone in your family will question your decisions to serve the underserved here & around the world.

- There will even be the very rare patient who will totally misunderstand your intentions as you extend spiritual care.

In these moments & always, BELIEVE THE GOSPEL! At every moment, PREACH it to yourself! TRUST in the fact that in Christ, God has given you all things (Romans 8:32)!

When Satan & his demons put idols before you to worship,

When the world tries to squeeze you into its mold, & tells you you're not good enough,

When your own flesh cries out for you to puff up with pride or even wallow in self-pity,

BELIEVE...THE...GOSPEL!

-----------------------------

The words still ring inside my head. Believe the Gospel? Is the Gospel really for frequent-failers like me? Hallelujah! It is EXACTLY for sinners like me. Thank You, Jesus...

[For whoever might be reading this, I'd still appreciate your prayers, primarily that I would abide by the charge I shared, that I would be diligent in surrender, that I would indeed BELIEVE the Good News of Jesus. Thanks.]