On 6thJuly 2019 seven female students were awarded their degrees in medicine by the University of Edinburgh. Nothing unremarkable about that you might think, but the degrees were posthumous and should have been awarded 150 years ago.
Known as the Edinburgh Seven the ladies were led by Sophia Jex-Blake who was determined to follow her dream of becoming a doctor. But she lived in an age when it was unthinkable for a woman to pursue such a career. Joined by six others she eventually secured admittance to the university medical school in November 1869. But the obstacles and prejudice they faced were enormous – including a riot when they turned up for the anatomy exam – and ultimately academics voted against their graduation.
Like the Edinburgh Seven, Jesus too had a clear calling to bring healing and restoration to the sick and suffering in his time, but like them he too faced opposition and prejudice from the start. Misunderstood and ridiculed there were many who sought to undermine him, and in the end they threw him out by nailing him to a cross. But like the Edinburgh Seven that was not the end of the story. Such is the power of vocation.
It is no longer possible to listen to this story in the iOS version of the app but you can do so by subscribing to the Turn The Page podcasting iTunes.