“How long will you love your simple ways????”
The Farewell was a movie that came out in 2019. The main character, played by Awkwafina, travels from US to China to visit her family. While in China, she finds out her grandmother has stage IV cancer and is about to die, but is told not to tell her. Even with her grandmother’s questions about her health, she is told to lie and keep her diagnosis a secret. The movie is about the main character’s struggle of having an American identity and a Chinese identity. One that would encourage her to tell the truth (the American identity) vs the other that would tell her to lie, while keeping a secret (the Chinese identity).
The author struggles with being honest about periodontal disease versus holding back on it and letting the disease be.
I enjoyed the movie. I know others that hated it and I am fine with that. I feel for the struggle. The identity part made this movie enjoyable. As a dentist there is something that we rarely ever discuss that puts a mental toll on us. It also happens to those that are instructors or teachers dealing with students. Is it better to be honest to our patients or students vs keeping it to ourselves?? The easier of the two would be to keep it to ourselves. It’s also the nicer of the two. I know a lot that do this, but very few that are honest. If we are honest, would you want to go through the stress of having to deal with the possible return of anger, a bad review, shock, disappointment, leading to a loss of a patient or a dismissal??
Think about what’s happening in China now. Most doctors there are silent about the true toll of COVID. If they were honest about it, they’d get in trouble. Wouldn’t it be easier to deal with it by being silent?
And so, what do we do?? Do we keep pressing on or do we go the easy route?? I ask myself this and there really is no good answer. But I’ll continue dealing with the struggle….I know what I’m called to do. I’m already experiencing it.
I love this verse in Proverbs 1:22 “How long will you who are simple love your simple ways?” It speaks for itself. How long are you going to love your simple ways???