Vital Signs

As a Vet Tech student, I learned how to take different species' vital signs. We called them TPRs, which stood for Temperature, Pulse, and Respiration (in human medicine, vital signs also includes blood pressure). Vital signs themselves are just what they imply: they are merely outward, measurable signs that reflect what is actually going on inside the animal's body.

Owners are encouraged to learn how to take their pet's TPR so that if they suspect it is ill, they'll have what we call a "reference range" of what is normal for their specific pet to weigh the results against. That way, they'll have a better idea of whether or not to react.

Lately, I've been thinking that we as Christians should do the same thing. I think that every so often, we need to reflect on what we believe a Christian life should look like, and weigh that against what our own lives look like.

So, how do we do that? I suggest writing up your own "reference range." What do you believe are the basic signs of a healthy relationship with Jesus? Just like a TPR, what is on display in our lives is merely a signal of the condition of what is inside us.

I'll include my own list, but I encourage you to get alone with God, and figure out with Him what your personal list is.

I'll use the same acronym as regular vital signs: TPR, and Blood Pressure.
T=Truth
"T" usually stands for temperature. This number shouldn't change much. As you probably know, in humans it isn't a "range" at all, just one number: 98.6°F. Temperature is also a little awkward and uncomfortable to measure in the veterinary world. In my mind, this perfectly represents Truth. What Truth is should never change for a Christian. It was created by an unchanging God, and is given to us through His unchanging Word. It is also uncomfortable and awkward for us when God tells us we've been believing a lie, just like taking the temperature of a pet. Sometimes, I feel like a cat. Cats hate getting their temperatures taken. I'm sometimes the same way. If I am getting the sneaking suspicion that I'm believing a lie, I shut myself in so that I won't have to face the fact. I don't often ask for God to "search me." I don't like having my "temperature" taken.
However, think about how important temperature is. If you have a fever (i.e., your temperature is high), that means your immune system is fighting off an invasion. It could be a virus, bacteria, or an infection of some kind.
This reminds me of the times when I lose sight of what is True. My stress level increases drastically, because I'm questioning everything. My mind goes on overdrive. I become more perfectionistic and strict. I get strict because when I've lost sight of the Truth, I'm paranoid about stepping over the line. The line I can no longer see. Therefore, if I'm seeing this vital sign, I know I need to reevaluate what it is I think is True. I need to get with God, read the Bible, and ask for help from trustworthy, Godly people who can encourage me and remind me of what I once knew.

P=Passion (to daily meet with God)
"P" usually stands for Pulse. This measures how often your heart is pumping oxygen to your tissues through the circulation system. If your tissues become oxygen deprived for even a couple of minutes, the cells start dying. To me, the faithfulness and rhythm of that "thump-thump" represents the Passion of a Christian to daily meet with God. One interesting thing about this correlation is the fact that when you listen to a heart, two "thumps" count as one beat. This makes me think of the two essentials of a daily devotional: Bible reading and Prayer.
Just like with a Pulse, any defect in this vital sign has instant results. If I skip this for even one day, I notice a difference in my behavior. I have a harder time hearing and following God's directions, because I didn't re-familiarize myself with His still, small voice. I feel reluctant to do anything. I get much less humble, and lose a lot of self-control. I'm more easily irritable, and much less patient. I break like half the rules in the Law of Love, because I didn't get together with the Author of Love. And like I said, all it takes is missing one beat. If the heart misses one beat, you have a huge problem. The same thing with daily devotions. It can be caused by several different urgings. "After college," "I'll do it later," and "when I'm less stressed out by work" are all valid-sounding reasons. The one I usually fall for is "I deserve a break." But do you know what would happen if the heart took a break? The first thing it would kill is itself. Cardiac arteries are the first vessels to get fresh, oxygenated blood. Haven't you noticed that once you've skipped one daily devotional, it becomes easier to do it again? Therefore, when this vital sign is off, you can have a very big problem, very quickly.

R=Regular meetings
"R" usually stands for Respiration Rate. It measures how often the body inhales oxygen and exhales waste products from cellular metabolism (aka, carbon dioxide). It is slower than a pulse, but just as important. The one cannot function without the other. To me, this represents Church (Rrrrregularly meeting with other believers). Church is the place where your soul can take a nice, deep breath. Inhaling encouragement and peace through getting deep into God's presence and meeting with trustworthy people. Exhaling all the waste products you accumulated during the week. I also find something interesting about Respiration Rate. When I'm measuring it, I become much more self-aware, self-conscious of my own RR. Church can do the same thing. It reminds you to reflect on the condition of your walk with Jesus. It reminds you to take your vital signs. It also provides you with some "reference ranges": the people you admire whose vital signs are all evident and going strong. The cool thing about church is, as you take that deep breath, you're helping others do the same. After all, if lungs didn't work, they wouldn't get oxygen either. So no one at church needs to feel like everyone else is relying on them to get happy. God takes care of everyone, and He uses everyone to do it.
When this vital sign is missing or messed up, we see the same issues as with Pulse. After all, the baseline problem is still oxygen deprivation. So it is with me when I miss church. One, it becomes easier to do it again. Two, I have a harder time hearing God. Three, I start breaking the Law of Love, accumulating waste products (did you know that when you hold your breath, the urge to breath again doesn't actually come from a need for more oxygen, but a need to get rid of carbon dioxide? Your brain measures the toxicity levels in your blood, and tells your lungs to get rid of it by exhaling). However, I find that when I miss church, another side effect comes along. I lose that connection with the people. It's harder to pick up where we left off. I find myself performing for them to try and regain their favor. And while I'm trying to regain the attention from people, I lose sight of why I'm there: to refocus my heart, mind, soul, and strength on loving God. Therefore, "let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching (Hebrews 10:25)!" Don't hold your breath!

BP=Brokenness Propulsion
"BP" usually stands for Blood Pressure. My anatomy teacher describes it as measuring "how the heart is working as a pump." When I hear that, and try to correlate it to something Christian-like, my mind immediately goes to Compassion, which is a measure of how your heart is working as a propulsion device :).
As a Christian, if your heart is not broken about anything, that means your heart is broken. Our hearts, when we are deeply in touch with God, start to love people like His heart does, and start caring about the ones who need Him in one way or another. You don't have to have a broken heart about everything. Personally, my heart, when I'm really in touch with His, breaks for children and persecuted believers. I also notice a great compassion for those who are doing the persecuting. My prayers for b.a.s.i.c (brothers and sisters in chains), always end up including a prayer for the guards, the officials, and/or the terrorists/extremists who are hurting them.
With Blood Pressure, there are two numbers, one on top the other. The one on top basically measures how wide the blood vessels get when a big volume of blood gets pushed through it (therefore, how much pressure the blood has behind it). The number on the bottom measures the tone of the vessel; how small it gets when the pulse has passed through (therefore, how well the vessels are helping propel the blood forward). This is called systolic/diastolic pressure.
Compassion also has two "measurements" or "stages" in my mind: How willing you are to feel it, and how willing you are to act on it. When you have a weak BP, that indicates that either your heart is failing (where either it is working too hard, there is not enough muscle tone) or something like being dehydrated (where there isn't enough blood volume in the first place). If your heart as a Christian is failing, it could indicate that you're working too hard, and so "being choked by the anxieties of this life". This happens to me all the time, where I'm too distracted and motivated to do my work to notice or act on the needs of others. Being dehydrated could mean not having drunk the Water of Life (either not lately or not at all). Like I said earlier, if I am not deeply in touch with Jesus, my BP drops like *that*. I need to be infused with Him in order to feel like being poured out on His behalf. Therefore, the condition of your heart is easily indicated by your Brokenness Propulsion.

That's all our vital signs: Truth, Passion, Regular meetings, and Brokenness Propulsion. TPR and BP. I believe that we should regularly take our own Spiritual vital signs, so that if there is a problem, we'll catch it early. Just as vital signs are just an outward expression of what is going on inside the body, so are our Spiritual vital signs just a way to measure the condition of our hearts.

Luke 6:45 "The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks."

Safety

So, there was a shooting yesterday at a community college in Oregon. This comes right on the heels of my own college campus being evacuated twice in one week. Once because of a shooting threat, and once because of a bomb threat.

It appears that our world is not a safe place to be. So what do we do? How do we respond?
Here's what I think:

Matthew 10:28a    "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul."

We as Christians have nothing to worry about. God said that we can walk through fire and not be burned, because he is with us (Isaiah 43:1-4).

We can take comfort in the fact that we were bought at a price, and God does not take that investment lightly. He is able to protect us.

But what if it is his plan for us to be injured or killed? I say this: if it is his plan, there is no better thing that could happen. To live is Christ, to die is gain. So again, we have no reason to be afraid.


My heart and prayers go out to those who lost friends, teachers, and loved ones at the shooting yesterday, as well as to those who knew and loved the shooter. Every life is precious and worth mourning, and I pray that the God of all comfort and healing would be with those who mourn today.


Let us go out with courage, not shrinking back from the growing darkness. As the world grows darker, the light we carry will become brighter. Grace and peace be with you.