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Thank you Hal!   

By Dr. Grant Scarborough

I like to tell stories, but some things are best said directly – up front. Some things I do not want you to miss.

“MercyMed would not be here without Hal Brady.” Let me repeat this, in case I was not direct enough.

“MercyMed would not be here without Hal Brady.” Now for the story.

I graduated residency program in 2007 and moved to Augusta, Georgia. I partnered with a friend of mine, Robert Campbell, to start a clinic for the poor. We named it Christ Community of Augusta. It went well – really well and is still thriving today. Around this time, Hal Brady dreamed of a clinic for the poor in Columbus. Hal’s dreaming should not surprise anyone; he dreamed of a school, he dreamed of a ministry center. It seemed like God had given him an ability to dream and an ability to make dreams come to life. I think it was Champ Baker who first recommended starting a clinic, but soon a group of men came to Augusta to talk with me about the steps needed to have on in Columbus. I remember giving these men a tour of the clinic and then a presentation of the exact steps needed to take to start an indigent clinic. The number one step: find a physician willing to be the lead missionary.

The men left and soon I received a call. “Grant” in that distinct Hal Brady voice, “I think you need to be that missionary to Columbus.” I thanked him kindly and pointed him towards a few other people who he could speak with. Time went by and I was back at work in Augusta. Then another call from Hal – and another. I truly had no plan nor desire to start a clinic in Columbus, but Hal had other plans. I started to pray and soon I found myself at St Luke, in Hal’s office.

“Hal, I will consider doing this, but I do not want a St Luke clinic, I want a clinic for every person and every church.” Hal did not even blink. He was in complete agreement. He even arranged the first meeting with ministers to share the goal of the clinic: to be for all the people from every church and every corner of Columbus. I agreed to come, but only if Hal would lead with me. Hal became the initial chairman of the board 11 months before the clinic even started to see patients. We met over and over again to determine where the clinic needs to be, who needs to be involved, how it needs to be set up. Hal was involved with every decision as we pushed forward to open the clinic.

We opened and he continued to lead. Looking back over these last 5 years at the clinic and 6 years of working with Hal, there are a few things about Hal that you already know but need to be reminded of. Hal is an amazing leader. He has a keen vision to see the future and know the next few steps he needs to take. Hal is an excellent communicator. I remember many board meetings where people had different opinions and he would summarize them all in one sentence and everyone would be in agreement. Hal could always see the big picture. So often I would get lost in the forest and Hal would remind me of the bigger picture going on behind the scenes. Hal is more concerned about God getting glory than himself. He always wanted everything to be pointed back to Christ. Hal is a good friend. I could call and he would answer. He would care. He listened and gave much needed advice.

There is no doubt in my mind. Without Hal, MercyMed would not be here. Without him as our head, we would not be as successful as we are. Hal I love you and am grateful for all you have done.

As many of you know Hal has been doing all of this from Atlanta these last few years. He has been the heart and soul of MercyMed from a different city. MercyMed is in his debt.

In January of this year, we finished our new building and completely moved in. Soon afterwards, we received a phone call from Hal stating it was the right time from his perspective to step down from being on the board. “Grant, I really wanted to see the completion of the building through. I think now is the time.” Isn’t that just like Hal, Get a ministry to a stable place, complete the building, expand the ministries reach all before moving on, even though he has not lived in the city for years.

Thank you Hal for your kindness and dedication. There is no way we can truly repay you. I think of the verse in Thessalonians when Paul was speaking to the people in Thessalonica. Paul was speaking to all the people he had impacted saying, “For what is our hope and joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.” Hal you have impacted Columbus in many ways and you have impacted MercyMed in innumerable ways. I pray we will be part of your joy. That we will be part of your crown. That the work and time you invested here – that we will be something you will boast of before the Lord at his coming. I pray we will live up to being your glory and joy. For Hal, MercyMed would not be here without you.

May “The Lord bless you and keep you, The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you, the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.” Number 6: 24-26

** Warning**

Please read FIRST: I do not condone the injuring of animals, nor do I intend to imply that people are like cats. This is an analogy. It is an imperfect picture of the point I am trying to convey.

Please read SECOND: I do not condone the injuring of animals, nor do I intend to imply that people are like cats. This is an analogy. It is an imperfect picture of the point I am trying to convey.

Whew—I had to get that out of the way. I did not want someone calling to send me to sensitivity school. I never liked school very much.

We lost our cat: “Little Moses.” “Little Moses” was our amazing cat. He did not part the red sea, but he did have babies. Actually, he had 2 litters. We either need to improve our homeschooling in the area of anatomy or call Ripley’s Believe it or Not. But we loved “Little Moses.”

Anyway, this is Little Moses’ story: a year ago we found an entire litter of kittens right outside our office in Augusta, Georgia. Actually, that is not accurate. I did not find anything at all. The whole thing was a scam. Everyone knew it except me. The staff found the kittens and knew I would never take them, so they called my wife, Anne. They told Anne there were just two or three, but when she arrived, they must have multiplied because she found six, all way too young to be left alone—so young, none of their eyes were even open yet. They had ticks, fleas, and ants all over them. They were the saddest bunch of kittens you had ever seen. When I got home, I found my wife and children with small bottles of milk, hand feeding six kittens. Every three hours, the feeding repeated again and again and again.

“Little Moses” was the smallest of the bunch. We did not think he would make it. His little paws looked as if they had been burned. We fed him, washed him, and held him. When it was time to give them away, we couldn’t part with “Little Moses,” so we kept him. And then he became fat, or maybe pregnant. Then he became “Little Miss Moses.” The first litter was delivered in a bad storm that left an oak tree in our house. The second litter was born 2 days before moving to Columbus.

She was happy in Columbus, except for the owls and hawks, and she was doing really well until she went missing. She was gone one day, and then two, and three—signs went up—four, five… “Curse you owls!” No word, no phone call. We were very sad. “Little Moses” has been a survivor from day one. Finally, her nine lives had run out. We figured it must have been an owl, a dog, another cat or something. Around day 6 or 7, Anne went to the outside garage and heard a soft meow. Could “Moses” have been in the garage all along? As the door went up, she staggered out. A little weak, but a survivor still. We immediately fed and watered her.  But she was different—a little more grown up maybe? …maybe gone from survivor to warrior or hunter. That afternoon, for the first time ever, she caught her prey—not one, but three chipmunks.

It was as if her time in solitary confinement had changed her. She had gone from a well-fed, soft, pampered kitten to the chipmunk killer. She was doing her best to survive. You can’t really blame her. It really was the environment she was left in. It was a hard environment with limited resources. We were glad she survived.

Now read the warning again.

Many of the people I care for come from tough environments, with very little resources. Many people do the best they can with the little they have. The entire system is just messed up. But everyone living there knows the rules. They know how to play the system. They are all survivors. They rely on government, cunning, skill and more to survive. No one gets married because they get less money from the government. The more kids you have, the more money you get. If you start working, you lose disability. There is no motivation to push forward. There is no motivation to get out. If you start taking steps forward, they lose some of the little resources they have. Do they take this change or do what their neighbors have done for generations? Why not drink another Schlitz Malt Liquor, have sex again, and wait for the time to pass—it is all vanity. If 7 days changed Little Moses, how much would a lifetime change you? Chipmunks everywhere.

From the outside, it looks ridiculous. How can you let the environment affect you so much?  It is easy to condone this behavior, especially from the outside. I was thinking what I might look like if I was locked in the neighborhood for a week. Then the entire situation flipped on me. How ridiculous does my system look like from the outside?  What would happen if you locked them in my neighborhood? Would making one of my patients a middle class citizen solve their problems or cause new ones?

We look like we have it all figured out—all of life in a neat little package. We are busy and driven. We live life full of passion. We want to change the world and leave our mark. Those things are not bad except when the motivation that drives them are not pure. We are not busy to build the kingdom of God. We are not passionate about Jesus. We are not leaving a mark for Christ. No, we are busy to make a name for ourselves—to build our own kingdom—to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and then show the world what we are made of. We are winners, leaders, first. Once again, all of this sounds great until we read the Bible. “The first will be last”—“Jesus did not come to be served but to serve”—Jesus did not even come to do His own will, but His Father’s in heaven. This business and success and drivenness is just another form of Schlitz Malt Liquor and sex—waiting for time to pass—it is all vanity and chipmunks are still falling.

The poor and rich alike need to be placed in a new neighborhood – The neighborhood of Christ. Gandhi once said, “I like your Jesus, but I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ.” We need to follow in the footsteps of Christ. One of my patients in Augusta was a black man who really felt like he was a woman. He dressed up as a lady and sometimes went down to 9th street to get picked up by men. We had wonderful talks about Jesus. Finally, I told him that I did not want him to be like me—a white middle class Christian. He agreed. And then I told him that I did not want him to be like him. He looked puzzled. “I want you to be like Jesus,” I said. This is the only answer that does not lead to vanity.

There is no difference between Schlitz and sex and self-reliance and self-promotion. And until our neighborhoods follow in the footsteps of Jesus, we will be battling the lower, middle, and upper classes thinking one is greater or worse than the other, not realizing they will all lead us to the road of destruction because they are all centered on man. We need the kingdom of God.  We need a miracle greater than parting the sea and “Little Moses” having babies. We need the miracle of changed hearts and neighborhoods. Imagine if we dropped my  friend into a neighborhood where people considered others more important than themselves – where people were battling to be the biggest servant, where people gave away their coats and walked an extra mile with someone in need, where humility reigned. I think my friend would come out a different person in less than seven days.

O Lord may your kingdom come quickly.

Come, Lord Jesus, come!

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