This photo of a sign hung above an apothecary shop in Colonial Williamsburg was taken as I “looked up.”
Today’s post is in response to the daily photo challenge with the theme “Look up.” I became aware of the challenge on Joseph Elon Lillie’s blog:
The photo taken over the 4th of July holiday is of the sign hung above the apothecary shop in Colonial Williamsburg. Although I have not been actively involved with my former profession as a pharmacist for more than 22 years, my visit to Williamsburg reminded me that I am now dispensing “medications” of a different sort through my blog called “Dr. J’s Apothecary Shoppe” where I am “filling prescriptions to minister to the heart and soul.” Now I see that I am still compounding:
After the Art of the Apothecary
And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil.
Exodus 30:25 [KJV]
I desire to follow recipes and not to vary
From the prescribed formulas for the remedies I need,
To compound after the art of the apothecary.
I long to work circumspectly and always be wary,
To measure and mix precisely for love and not for greed.
I desire to follow recipes and not to vary.
I recall yearning to learn from childhood days in Gary,
To weigh my decisions and follow as the Lord would lead,
To compound after the art of the apothecary.
I seek to formulate my ideal art and to marry
Vocation and avocation as one of love and need.
I desire to follow recipes and not to vary.
I attempt to move with wisdom but never to tarry
To master each prescription, to excel and to succeed,
To compound after the art of the apothecary.
The sweet smelling savor I desire my life to carry
Is the pure, holy anointing oil tempered of my need.
I desire to follow recipes and not to vary,
To compound after the art of the apothecary.
In a previous blog post, I concluded with a music video described as another dose of good medicine: Medicine (for someone else) by Ruben Studdard:
These antique medicine bottles bring to mind a song that I recently heard, bringing to mind days when I “made medicine,” as a pharmacist.
Recently as I listened to a local gospel music radio station, I heard a rendition of “Medicine (For Someone Else)” performed by Ruben Studdard and The Black Academy Choir. Described as a “comforting soul ballad,” the song brought to mind my blog “Dr. J’s Apothecary Shoppe,” where I thought this would make a wonderful musical prescription that I could add to the shelves of “Good Medicine.” The following excerpt from an entry posted at the beginning of last year captures the essence of what I hoped the blog would be:
During the first week of the first month of the New Year 2012, as I prepare a blog entry for Dr. J’s Apothecary Shoppe, I recall the early days of my first profession as a registered pharmacist. For more than 25 years I was a practicing pharmacist, but now as a writer and minister, I use my skills in poetry and prose while incorporating music and visual arts to “fill prescriptions” designed to minister to the heart and soul in this blog.
To become more faithful in blogging, I plan to post “Word for the Day: Daily Dose of Good Medicine.” I invite you to stop by and see what remedies I have been working on recently, as I continue to compound “After the Art of the Apothecary.”
To learn more about “Good Medicine” from Dr. J. click here.
Now for your listening enjoyment, here is “Medicine (For Someone Else).”
As I listened to the song again, I realize that so often seemingly adverse situations that we encounter and endure turn out to be a blessing and inspiration for others whom we provide comfort to, as the God of all comfort comforts us in all our trials:
1 Corinthians 1:3-4:
Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;
Who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
The lyrics to the Ruben Studdard song remind us, that as we walk in the steps of Christ we will come to realize that our lives are not really about us but about others:
Take the trials that you been through
And all the times life made you blue
Search down deep within yourself
Ooohhh make it medicine for someone else, someone else
Not too long ago, after a very stimulating discussion at a men’s meeting at our church, I was inspired to write a poem related to a distinguishing marks of manhood, described as “sacrificial living.”
Sacrificial Living: Assignment of Manhood
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,
which is your reasonable service.
Romans 12: 1
Forgetting things left behind, I press toward the mark.
The passion that now enflames my life was once a spark.
This all-consuming fire, great light dispels the dark,
As I abide in God’s presence in a place beyond the Ark.
I continue to strive ever toward the highest good
With sacrificial living: assignment of manhood.
Like Christ, I endure the cross while despising the shame
And accept this high calling and embrace my new name.
By grace to stand in His presence without any blame,
I continue to strive ever toward the highest good.
Always remaining aware that God is in control,
I am still running to serve as my life’s highest goal.
This zeal for God and His Word burns deep within my soul,
With sacrificial living: assignment of manhood.
Being fully persuaded, I now know that I know
That God will fulfill His will and declare, “It is so!”
I set aside pride; where He leads me I will follow:
I continue to strive ever toward the highest good.
Looking to the future, I walk by faith, not by sight.
To do all the will of God still remains my delight
To follow Christ’s command that I should be salt and light
With sacrificial Living: assignment of manhood.
To speak the Word of life in all that I do and say,
To follow in the steps of Christ all along the way.
Until the final victory I must watch, fight and pray.
I continue to strive ever toward the highest good.
Triumphant from faith to faith and glory to glory,
I still seek God’s face in the place of my destiny.
Life continues to unfold as a scroll before me.
With sacrificial living: assignment of manhood.
With a love so strong, yet ever so tender,
Nothing can dissuade me, nor can anything hinder.
I will hold fast to the faith and never surrender.
God’s Word hidden in my heart, I’ll always remember:
I continue to strive ever toward the highest good
With sacrificial living: assignment of manhood.
Hearing the song with its reference to “making medicine” along with other scriptures and conversations, I continue to be grateful for the constant reminders to live sacrificially.
Prescriptions filled in Dr. J’s Apothecary Shoppe provide “Good Medicine” for those who partake.
Prescriptions filled in Dr. J's Apothecary Shop provide "Good Medicine" for those who partake.Prescriptions filled in Dr. J's Apothecary Shoppe provide "Good Medicine" for those who partake.
Although medication must be taken as the doctor has prescribed in order to be most effective, often many people, however, follow only half of their doctor’s advice. Editors web, the voice of the health consumer, discusses the perplexing issue of “noncompliance,” occuring when patients do not follow their doctors’ orders. Noncompliant patients simply forget to take medications on time, misunderstand the directions, cannot make the lifestyle changes required for certain treatments or simply ignore medical advice. Such neglect often has tragic consequences. Editorsweb, the voice of the health consumer, discusses the perplexing issue of “noncompliance,” occuring when patients do not follow their doctors’ orders. Noncompliant patients simply forget to take medications on time, misunderstand the directions, cannot make the lifestyle changes required for certain treatments or simply ignore medical advice. Such neglect often has tragic consequences. According to Editorsweb.org, “It is estimated that 125,000 people with treatable ailments die each year simply because they do not take prescribed medications properly or they skip them altogether.” As a former pharmacist, I am especially aware that failure to be compliant or being noncompliant often marks the difference between the successful treatment of a disease and a lingering illness that shows little or no improvement or even death.
To get better, patients must follow both their mothers’ and their doctors’ advice and “take their medicine.” In a parallel manner, the prescriptions compounded by “the good doctor” and filled in this apothecary shoppe are prepared “to minister to the heart and soul.” The opening stanza of “After the Art of the Apothecary,” the poem that could be considered the theme song for my spiritual endeavors, expresses my purpose for opening this enterprise:
I desire to follow recipes and not to vary
From the prescribed formulas for the remedies I need,
To compound after the art of the apothecary.
As is generally the case, whenever I am privileged to teach from the Bible or deliver a message in a more formal teaching setting, I share what God has been revealing to me or what I have been learning or experiencing of late. Often what I have been learning also has application to those whom I am teaching who most often relate to my message because they are in a similar situation. I am saying that, first and foremost, the medication prescribed is for me. I recognized this truth when I wrote the following poem in response to those who say “Why don’t you take your own medicine and heal yourself instead of trying to heal others?”:
Good Doctor, Heal Yourself
They were all speaking well of Him and were amazed by the gracious words that came from His mouth, yet they said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”
Then He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me: ‘Doctor, heal yourself.’ ‘All we’ve heard that took place in Capernaumdo here in Your hometown also.’
Luke 4:22-23
“Good doctor, heal yourself.”: words coming from the heart,
Hardened by unbelief that taints the inner part.
Beyond any disguise, Jesus knew what they thought.
They wanted the right remedy that could be bought,
But they all doubted the Savior’s words from the start.
Christ has healing words He desires to impart:
Custom prescriptions written for each patient’s chart.
Compounded to perfection, the work has been wrought.
“Good doctor, heal yourself.”
For this apothecary, work becomes an art.
Consecrated to minister and set apart
To teach the joy of serving, as I have been taught,
I triumph in Christ in the battles I have fought
And rest in knowing God’s presence will never depart.
“Good doctor, heal yourself.”
As I have been developing my blog and posting new entries, I recognized that I have been touching upon a number of topics that I plan to discuss in greater detail in a book that I am in the process of writing. A tentative title is Good Medicine: Prescriptions for Overcoming Toxic Emotions. Some of my recent blog entries deal with negative emotions, such as “discouragement, disappointment and despair” which I refer to as the “Three Deadly Ds.” In addition, I also discuss fear, a potentially debilitating toxic emotion which is counteracted by “love, the perfect antidote.” In Watch, Fight and Pray: My Personal Three-fold Strategy to Overcome Prostate Cancer, I also came to recognize firsthand the importance of overcoming “dangerous emotions,” as I compound remedies that I needed to combat my diagnosis of cancer.
In Dr. J’s Apothecary Shoppe I share my prescriptions, anticipating that those who come to my establishment will find remedies that can be applied in practical ways to improve their spiritual health which is directly connected with their physical and emotional health as well. I concur with Dr. Larry Dossey, another former pharmacist and MD with “the experience of a practicing internist and the soul of a poet,” who has written extensively on the role of the mind in health and the role of spirituality in healthcare. One of his many books is entitled Prayer is Good Medicine. A blog appropriately called “Good Medicine” offers this definition of the term used in Native American spirituality: “. . . things that are good for you and will heal you.” The term also reflects the kind of medications offered in my dispensary, but “good medicine” is good only when it is taken as prescribed and applied with faith.
Dr. J's Apothecary Shoppe 