A field hospital after a battle

US Air Force Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron members monitor patients during a C-17 aero-medical evacuation mission from Balad Air Base, Iraq, to Ramstein Air Base, Germany. U.S. Air Force Photo/Master Sgt. Scott Reed

Something about the health care debate got me pondering Pope Francis’ quote in a 2013 interview that the Church should be like a field hospital after a battle.

“I can clearly see that what the Church needs today is the ability to heal wounds and warm the hearts of faithful, it needs to be by their side. I see the Church as a field hospital after a battle. It’s pointless to ask a seriously injured patient whether his cholesterol or blood sugar levels are high! It’s his wounds that need to be healed. The rest we can talk about later. Now we must think about treating those wounds. And we need to start from the bottom.”

“Savage Station VA field hospital after the battle of June 27” in the Library of Congress, photographer James Gibson

There’s a lot of good writing about field hospitals after battles.  Walt Whitman and Hemingway both saw some firsthand.  Or how about

I never really watched MASH tbh and got kinda sad when it would come on instead of something more fun.