The Doctor

THE DOCTOR

Once upon a time there was a Doctor. His method of treatment was always the same.
Let me tell you about it.

Whenever a person came to him saying "Doctor, Doctor, I don't feel well" he would
briefly examine his patient and say, "Do you want the truth or do you want to feel better?"

Most of those who sought him would say "I want to feel better", so he would say "You
see that it is almost nothing, you are certainly as ill as you are aware of but you are
only aware of a minor stomach upset. Go in peace and feel better".

And they would believe him and go away. Believing him made them feel better for a
time. But of course the Doctor was only telling them what they wanted to hear. He
was not lying of course, but he knew when the truth was not wanted.

Of course before long they would start to feel ill again, and so came back to Him.
He would ask the same question "Do you want the truth or do you want to feel
better?"

The performance would continue. If they only wanted to feel well but not hear the
truth he would send them away, the pain would return after a brief period, but each
time they returned the pain was greater.

But some were wiser. When he asked "do you want the truth or do you want to feel
better?

"The truth" they would say "I want the truth".

So the doctor rejoiced in their insight and would say "you are gravely ill. A tumour is
eating your heart and will kill you before long"

At this some got angry, accused him of quackery and stormed out. They died, needless
to say. But the rest said "Oh, Doctor, Doctor, what shall I do about it?

And the doctor would ask his first question again "Do you want the truth or do you
want to feel better?"

If they answered the second of the two, which was by far the most common answer he would say "Very well, you know you are sick but are wise in the ways of cures. So go then, and seek out a healthy person, then imitate his way of living. See what it is to be healthy and then work hard at it, but beware it will be hard work, a struggle even"

This was of course the answer they expected to hear and indeed wanted to hear, for in
their eyes it made them model patients. But of course they were sick. No one is cured of illness by mimicking  health, to these people I shall return.

But some of them who asked the question "what shall I do about my illness?", were clever, at least in their own eyes. They said "Clearly you are a wise man, for the truth is what matters, not feelings, so clearly you do not want us to feel better, neither is it relevant. Give me the truth,  then,  but know that I accept that feeling better is irrelevant"

Now the Doctor was indeed  a wise man, but this kind of wisdom insulted his intelligence and his character. He sighed inwardly.

"Very well, you heard what I said to those who merely wanted to feel better. Go see a healthy man and imitate his condition. Be aware that it is hard work, a
struggle."
"But doctor, they said "this is the advice you gave to those who did not want the
truth!"
To which the doctor simply said "who is the doctor here? I tell you what you yourself
believe is true, so go and do it."
They agreed and left.
So both of these types of people went out and mimicked health, failed
miserably and returned, doubled up in agony. They were worse than ever.
"Doctor, Doctor", they cried, in pain, what shall I do?"
"Do you want the truth or do you want to feel better"
Some said "I need truth, you know this."
"Very well, the Doctor said, "continue your therapy. If you think about it you will
realize that you are not consistent in your efforts. But know that if your illness gets
worse you must make haste to return to me, for if it does worsen it will become
manifestly terminal and quickly"
Struck with sorrow, but agreeing with him, they left. They thought they might still
recover, which error they would not acknowledge, and which error he therefore could
not correct.
So they left until the next time, if they were still alive even attempt to return to him,
for they were starting to die off now that their illness reached this stage.
But some were inclined, at last,  to heed their pain.
"Have mercy on me, Doctor, I am in agony here. I NEED BOTH," they cried in
answer to his now familiar question.
The Doctor smiled.
"GOOD" he said.
My next question is this "Is the question remaining 'what should the patient do about
the illness?' or is it 'what the Doctor should do?'?"
To those who answered "the patient" His answer was to send them out
to yet another round of therapy which had already failed, unless in agony they
sincerely changed their mind on the spot. The doctor was wise enough to see who
were sincere in their change of mind however, and would not be fooled by those who
pretended to think that the cure depended on the doctor when they did not think so.
To those who said and knew that the cure depended on the doctor he said, "Come into
my surgery, lay down, be as comfortable as you can without striving to be so, and I
will remove some of the tumour today. You are to come back to me on a daily basis
for more surgery, but you are not to aggravate your condition by seeking to imitate the
healthy."
Most were so tormented that they obeyed him, they now had no other viable choice.
But wisest of all His patiences were those few who immedately gave the right answers
to every one of his questions the
first time he had asked. Do you recall the questions? First they said they wanted the
truth. Then they said that they realized that they needed both the truth and to feel
better as the pain was symptomatic, to ignore it was folly, and then they said correctly
that the correct question was what the doctor should do about the condition, and not
what the patient himself should do.
These wisest ones were healed quickest of all and did not waste years, sometimes,
mimicking health in increasing agony.
But all the patients of the doctor were healed over a period of time.
Except for some few that decided that they were healed completely after a first
treatment, or the first week, and so walked out, to once more mimic health and ignore
their symptoms. If they lived and had learned enough from their continuing folly to
return to the Doctor they were received by Him without recrimination
I was one of his patients, my treatment continues, my pain diminishes
daily.
One day I asked the doctor, "Why were you so harsh in sending away people who did
not answer question properly."
He sighed "I hated to do so, but their tumours of heart also effected
their, or should I say your, brains. As long as you thought as you did you could not
receive any healing from me, this was the nature of the illness itself. I had no other
choice but to send them and you away until their suffering got too much for you to
bear".

He smiled "You remember how obstinate you were, how many times you demanded
truth not peace, or peace not truth, and how many times you cut off treatment
prematurely"
Indeed I did. I who thought I was a model patient was by this conceit proven a very bad
one.
And still he received me without recrimination when I crawled back to his rooms,
even though I came extremely close to agonising death.
I had another question.
"Why did you not remove the tumour all at once?"
"It was so far metastatized that it was everywhere in your system, indeed you all who
suffer this condition were born this way. There was no way to remove it all at once
without killing you. That was" he smiled again, "clearly not my intent."

I realized the wisdom in these answers, but one more question was bothering me.
"Doctor, my dear friend, why did you offer the alternative of truth OR feeling better"
His answer surprised me then and it does still.
"Ahh, you still missed the point. I did not make a false alternative like this. They did,
it was one of the symptoms of the tumour itself. They who wanted comfort alone did
not care as to truth, those who thought they wanted truth were too proud to
acknowldge their symptoms. Indeed my very asking of the question was part of my
making a diagnosis. Come into my surgery and lie down, I must operate again today.
Your question shows you are not yet cured."
This I did gladly, for it was painless.
And free.