Dr. Joe says, 'I may be down, but I ain't out"

Dr. Joe Wesley Dickerson, M.D., released the following statement in response to recent events besieging Dickerson Memorial Hospital that he founded, nurtured and sustained; the lives of so many faithful employees, and his own life:

"Our Heavenly Father, you know that I made my commitment to you at the age of 13 in 1927. At that time, our culture required such a commitment to be sealed by river baptism. Consequently, all baptisms were in the summer when the river was low and the weather was warm, and so I was baptized in the Neches River in the summer of 1927.

My Heavenly Father, you also know that I lack the eloquence of diction, the brilliance of metaphor, or the poetry of the imagination to effectively and intelligently articulate my emotions at this time of crisis in the life or our community.

"Suffice it to say, though that I pray that all those who consider themselves my enemies, as well as my friends, my patients, my family, and all who may read this be granted your grace and your mercy.

"I further pray that all of these, when their work on earth is done, be saved in Heaven. I ask this in Jesus' name. Also, I thank you for the kind support of so many who have expressed such a rich outpouring of love, generous encouragement, and bountiful cheer."

Dr. Joe added two more thoughts, one, a reference to the apostle Paul, 2 Corinthians 4: 8-9, "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed..."

His other comment is that like the unsinkable Molly Brown of Titanic fame, "I may be down, but I ain't out."