The Hammer Holds

Being at the Children's Hospital has broken my heart in so many different ways. I have such a profound respect for my friends who practice pediatric medicine. I was thinking of some of my patients and how though their small bodies are weak and frail, the ways that they touch the lives of all those around them gives them such a powerful purpose during their time on this earth. Those thoughts conjured one of my all time favorite songs by Bebo Norman, titled The Hammer Holds.

A shapeless piece of steel, that's all I claim to be
This hammer pounds to give me form, this flame, it melts my dreams
I glow with fire and fury, as I'm twisted like a vine
My final shape, my final form I'm sure I'm bound to find

So dream a little, dream for me in hopes that I'll remain
And cry a little cry for me so I can bear the flames
And hurt a little hurt for me, my future is untold
But my dreams are not the issue here, for they, the hammer holds

And the water, it cools me gray, and the hurt's subdued somehow
I have my shape, this sharpened point, what is my purpose now?
And the question still remains, what am I to be?
Perhaps some perfect piece of art displayed for all to see

The hammer pounds again, but flames I do not feel
This force that drives me, helplessly, through flesh, and wood reveals
A burn that burns much deeper, it's more than I can stand
The reason for my life was to take the life of a guiltless man

This task before me may seem unclear
But it, my maker holds

Crimson and Clover

This one is a story and song wrapped up into one. I just started a block of three months doing pediatric neurology. In just a few short days I've realized that pediatric medicine is a completely different beast than adult medicine. There are so many differences besides the size of the patients. Anyway, I had a good laugh when I saw that a set of newborn twins had been admitted to the general pediatrics team with the names Crimson and Clover. Their last name is Bean, so for the rest of their lives they will be Crimson Bean and Clover Bean. Why are parents so cruel? Also funny was that none of the medical students understood what was so funny about the names until we all started singing the song. Sheesh we're getting old.