answers to life's problems

When my boss died, his practice was sold and I took fulltime work for another dentist that I knew and had been an acquaintance of my former boss. He appeared to be a religious man and I assumed him to be of the same caliber as my previous employer. It soon became apparent that he was not cut of the same cloth. He did such things as remove an old crown, go through the motions of making a new crown, but just re-seat the old crown, then charge the patient for a new crown. He put a six-year old child through capping her front four baby teeth, even though they were loose and due to fall out in a few weeks, because the insurance would pay for it. There was incident after incident.

I knew I had a moral responsibility but didn’t know how to handle the dilemma. I wanted some concrete guidance, some sign from heaven, maybe just reassurance from somewhere that would give me the courage. I prayed about it constantly, I documented the cases, and pondered how to handle things, all the while waiting for divine direction.

Finally the answer came while reading the scriptures. I already knew what needed to be done, I didn’t need to wait for divine direction. In fact, I would be slothful and not a wise servant if I didn’t do what I knew I needed to do.

It took a great deal of courage for me to bring him before the proper authorities. I laid out my documentation. His response was to excuse himself because “everyone does it”, to claim he had “repented of that” and he didn’t “do that anymore”. His testimony carried more weight than mine, and things were resolved, although not to my satisfaction (no reparations to any of the patients were required of him). I gave two weeks notice and, traumatized, decided to give up the profession altogether. Fortunately, a good friend of mine from dental school needed a hygienist and working for him restored my faith in dentists in general.

I don’t wait so long anymore before searching the scriptures for answers to life’s problems. It always amazes me that everything I need to know is available to me in those pages.