Brehm Center

            These days we are living in a small town outside of Malaga, Spain.  Here in the land of Cervantes, all films are dubbed into Spanish. Sub-titles are never used.  While I, somewhat fluent in Spanish, love this, Rob has had to put his movie-going on the back burner (just as well, as he’s busy writing a book on theology and film). 

            So far I have seen two films, both of which I had seen in the states, but you hear new things through another language.  On a Saturday afternoon, I joined Pia Restrepo and her son Efy (one of our career missionary families in Spain) to see Patch Adams. We laughed, we cried, we saw ourselves in the film.  When I asked Efy (an eight-year-old soccer aficionado) what his favorite part of the film was, he answered without missing a beat. “My favorite part was when Patch said to God, ‘Talk to me.’  And God did talk to him.  He sent him a butterfly as a message.”

            “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.”  (Matt. 19:14) Somehow kids have gotten it, and this film has touched even many adult viewers. Hundreds of email messages came in on chat lines about the film, all about how they could “really relate to the horrors of healthcare these days, and their need for a hero like Dr. Patch Adams.”  However, the critics panned it as “shamelessly sentimental” or “emotional fascism.”  Other criticism has come from an occasional doctor, who having seen the film has taken offense.  How could lay viewers, and professional critics or practitioners, be at such odds?  Perhaps the professionals have misdiagnosed the point of Patch Adams. 

            Producers Mike Farrell (of M.A.S.H. fame) and Marvin Minoff wrote in the LA Times that the film is not an “attack on medical practitioners,” but rather, “a wacky but concerned assault on a medical establishment gone awry.” Absolutely!  For you see, the film is a true story, about one man’s pilgrimage through the healthcare system. 

            The movie starts with Patch having to commit himself to a mental institution. The callous treatment he receives there inspires him to reach out to his fellow patients with kindness and laughter.  In the process, he is healed. Having experienced how humor can aid health, he decides to enter medical school so that he can give his life to helping others.  Unfortunately, medical school turns out to be a mixed bag; the nurses and patients love him, but his superiors are offended by his free spirit, unbridled enthusiasm, and clowning around. With the lines drawn we are headed for a predictable showdown. And a predictable winner. 

            So, why go see Patch Adams? Because you’ll smile while thinking about healthcare. And if you’re like many Americans, I bet you haven’t had those two experiences together for quite sometime.  Most of us struggle to get our healthcare providers to be responsive, and we are the lucky ones. Millions of people in our country don’t have health insurance and go without the healthcare services they need.  That’s what the critics missed when they saw Patch Adams.  They failed to recognize how desperately people yearn for medical treatment that is relationship driven, service-oriented, and hope-filled. And it’s not just patients; it’s many of their doctors who yearn for this also.

            We’re lucky in the Covenant, for God has blessed us with many saints.  And we have a few “Patch Adams” ourselves. From the first time I heard about Dr. Teddy in Zaire or Dr Mildred Nordlund in China, I knew these were amazing doctors who loved their patients.  In my own family, we have Uncle Paul (Dr. Paul W. Johnston), a recently retired surgeon, who had patients, nurses, and students singing his praises.  We can all think of those women and men, who called to be instruments of God’s healing, embody many of the insights we see in Patch Adams.

            “See what others don’t see. See life in a new way each day,” says one of Patch’s first friends in the mental hospital.  “We need to really listen to people, and to take our eyes off our own problems by serving others,” Patch admonishes his fellow students. Jesus often saw what others didn’t see, and listened to people as he served the hurting around him.  Dr. Patch Adams isn’t Jesus, nor are our beloved doctors, but they do have the capacity to be “little Christs” to all those who come their way.  Patch Adams shows us a glimpse of that possibility. Out on video, here’s a great movie for the whole family.