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SAIL ON, O SHIP OF STATE,
BUT CHANGE COURSE
Journal of Healing – Feb. 15, 2006
By Mary Koch

My husband is getting ready for his daily wheelchair practice drive.

Ever since he got his new chair, winter weather has forced him to drive primarily indoors; he misses the freedom of wide-open spaces.

I, meanwhile, am delusional. Our big concrete patio is reflecting the heat of sunshine in a deceptive way.

“It’s really nice outside,” I whisper to Marlenea, John’s assistant and co-pilot. She grins.

“You’ve barely gotten any dirt on those new wheels,” she says to John. “You want to drive outside today?”

Of course he does. He gets bundled up in his bright blue poncho and wool cap, gloves on his hands and a blanket around his legs. Even so, as we round the corner of the house, we’re blasted by a cold wind so impatient, it refuses to wait for March.

John is determined to stay the course. Off he goes, down the street at full speed. Marlenea trots along at his elbow, ready to hit the “kill switch” if the chair goes too far astray.

I bring up the rear with our two dogs on leashes. Sadie, the springer, would like to stay apace with John, but Ben, the arthritic “golden old’un,” is holding us back. He can no longer keep up.

* * *

JOHN AND Marlenea become smaller in my vision as the space between us widens. It’s like watching a ship sail out to sea, and I’m reminded of the image from last week’s news, an image I can’t erase from my mind.

It’s the ferry that sank en route from Saudi Arabia to Egypt, taking a thousand lives. Several news reports stated that a fire had broken out on the ship not long after it left port. Instead of turning back, the captain stayed the course, apparently believing his crew could extinguish the fire.

Hours later the ferry sank in open seas, although the ultimate cause of the sinking is still a matter of speculation.

I don’t mean to diminish the loss of a thousand souls by seeing an analogy in that tragedy. Yet I can’t help note a parallel truth in the fate of that troubled vessel and our health care system. OK, so for me everything relates to our health care system.

Just as the ship captain refused to change course, we refuse to navigate away from a seriously impaired system. Costs continue to soar, the proportion spent on management is scandalous, 45 million Americans are without lifeboats – aka health care insurance, and studies document that people are suffering and dying unnecessarily because they don’t have access to care.

* * *

WHILE THE federal government does little or nothing to change course, lawmakers in Olympia toss the contents of their latté cups at the unquenchable flames. Their latest strategy is to force Wal-Mart to do better by its employees, too many of whom are dependent on state programs. Wal-Mart could provide its employees with the best possible health care benefits – and I wish it would – but the fire will still burn.

And then there’s Medicare. President Bush offered a transportation analogy of his own when he announced cuts in his new budget:

“It’s slowing down the rate of growth. It’s the difference between slowing your car down to go the speed limit, or putting your car in reverse.”

But old Ben is teaching me, sometimes slowing down can be the same as shifting into reverse.

By now John has turned at the end of the block and is heading back, setting his course for home. There are times to stay the course and times to change direction. Wisdom is knowing which to do when.

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