The Conversion of St Paul

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I am sitting on the screened veranda of my little "African Cottage" in Bong County rural Liberia. For the next 8 hours we have generator power -then at 6:30 am it is back to basics. Outside are the sounds of the African night - crickets, lizard nails as they scrabble across the screen , rustling trees. And the scent of the African night -dark humid dark earth, indolent, rich....
 

I remember when I stepped off the plane into that night air and it was like it was back in 2003 when I had flown solo into a Monrovia under siege with a plane load of antibiotics. I had walked into an empty arrivals hall and there was one old thin man at the desk who stamped my passport and quavered -"thank you for coming to us"
 

Now after the chlorine hand washing and temperature taking, I had walked into the arrivals' hall and was stopped by the guard. "I know you" he said. "You have been here before." Then he (with much pomp and circumstance) led me away from the visitor line and to the Resident alien line and said :'Thank you for coming to us." And my eyes filled with tears. Such a little thing and yet it meant so much.

After a 4 hour drive along a rutted road (I had forgotten about that road), I was finally "home." Phebe hospital is very busy. There are just 3 doctors - a surgeon, and internist who are working non-stop and me ......the nurses work long hours, are overstretched and are tired. I am told this week I am also getting 4 interns to train. We have very basic labs , XR and an OR. Most of this work is just tropical medicine ER - malaria with Hbg of 1, acute CVAs, untreated cancers, typhoid fever, pneumonia, HIV. The patients are so grateful for anything you can do -so gentle and courageous. I hate the "no contact" rule so all I can try to do is with gestures, my eyes and voice is try and reach out when all I want to do is hug them.
 

We have a rigid screening process in place to try and prevent the tragedy of last fall when 8 nurses and other HCPs at Phebe died and one doctor survived. The screening tool is very sensitive and not too specific which is fine with me. Unfortunately there was a breach today but I was in full universal precautions and had done nothing invasive. The minute I got the drift I backed out, sprayed everything with bleach (your best friend ) and put on full PPE- (God bless the CDC course). 

The International Medical Corps ETU is just down the road and they have been offering non-stop to help so 2 hours later, the Calvary arrived (love those guys -one suspect EBOLA patient was clogging up my ER). By the way you would think in this day and age we could design something better than those goofy suits. You are drenched , your eyes are stinging with sweat and you are literally squishing in your boots. After 30 minutes an 6 bottles of water later you begin to feel human.

This is an exciting time -the cases of Ebola are steadily dropping! Maybe maybe by mid 2015, we will be able to shout "Ebola free" and this nightmare will end and 'joy will come in the morning."
 

Kathryn 

On Christmas Day 1864, when The Rev. Elias Birdsall, age 34, read morning prayer for 10 people gathered in L.A.'s Odd Fellows Hall, he most likely never dreamed that then-frontier town of about 5,000 people would grow to become the nation's second largest metropolitan region, with some 18 million residents today.

Since that Christmas morning, services have continued every week for the past 150 years, and the congregation - named for St. Athanasius, the 4th-century Bishop of Alexandria - today remains a vibrant center of prayer and service at the heart of our Cathedral Center of St. Paul. It is the oldest continuing Protestant congregation in Southern California.

In the spirit of The Rev. Elias Birdsall's original 1865 lecture series, the Diocese of Los Angeles presents the following lectures:

CATHEDRAL CENTER:

HISTORIANS' WEEKEND: THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE

Friday, 27 February, 6pm

Reception, Dinner, Video Preview

Saturday, 28 February, 10am-3pm

Symposium, Lunch, Workshops

CAMPBELL HALL:

CLIMATE CHANGE THROUGH-LEADERSHIP FORUM WITH THE PRESIDING BISHOP*

Tuesday, 24 March, 11am

*Ticketed event co-sponsored by The Episcopal Church. Viewing site (open admission) at the Cathedral Center.

27 February - 1 March 2015

Loyola Marymount University

1 LMU Drive

Los Angeles, CA 90045

This year's symposium is the third and final in our series exploring the relationship between tradition and contemporary practice in Catholic and Orthodox liturgy. 

Throughout history, Christians have gathered in private rooms, cemetery chapels, basilicas, cathedrals, ships, garages, and buildings of all sizes and shapes to worship the triune God. The buildings accrued symbolic significance to such a degree that all of salvation history could be communicated through the various rooms, vessels, iconographic programs, and liturgical rituals celebrated in the space. As we reflect on architecture in the 21st century, many new questions emerge. Join us for a discussion with:

Keynote speaker: the Very Rev. Mark Morozowich, Provost, The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC.

Other speakers include: Richard Vosko; Robin Jensen, Vanderbilt University; Paul Meyendorff, St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary; Sharon Gerstel, UCLA; and Jeanne Kilde, University of Minnesota.

Registration is free but RSVP is required. For more information or to register for this event, CLICK HERE.