Henry Judah Heimlich is a name that is familiar, specifically because of his last name. Let’s get to know him a little bit better.
Heimlich was of Jewish descent. Born on February 3, 1920, his paternal grandparents were Hungarian Jewish immigrants, and his maternal grandparents were Russian Jews. His parents were Mary and Philip, and he was born in Wilmington, Delaware.
After graduation from Weill Cornell Medical College in 1943, he did a stint with the U.S. Navy, serving during WWII and then he served in the Navy Reserves in 1945, assigned to a post in China.
He married into a famous family. In 1951, he married Jane Murray, the daughter of the ballroom dancer Arthur Murray. He was also related to Anson Williams who became famous playing Potsie on Happy Days.
Dr. Heimlich received numerous awards during his life, including the Lasker Award, Engineering and Science Hall of Fame, Golden Plate Award of Academy of Achievement, and inducted into the Safety and Health Hall of Fame. His claims to fame include: “Dr. Henry Heimlich was a thoracic surgeon, medical innovator, and humanitarian who dedicated his life to finding simple, creative ways to save lives and improve the health of people throughout the world. In 1957, he was the first American surgeon to perform the reversed gastric tube operation, which allowed people who had lost their ability to swallow to again eat normally. A decade later, he invented the Heimlich Chest Drain Valve which saved the lives of thousands of soldiers in the Vietnam War and is commonly used today for patients undergoing chest surgery. And, he was best known for having invented the Heimlich Maneuver which has been used by people of all ages to save choking victims around the globe. Dr. Heimlich also devised many other lifesaving innovations.”1
“To perform the Heimlich maneuver, follow these steps:
- Stand behind the person and put your arms around their belly (abdomen).
- Make a fist with one hand and clasp your other hand tightly around it.
- Place the thumb side of your fist just below their ribcage and about two inches above their belly button (navel).
- Sharply and quickly thrust your hands inward and upward five times.
- Repeat this process until you free (dislodge) the object stuck in their windpipe, or the person becomes unconscious. If the person becomes unconscious, start CPR.”2
The month of June kicks off National Safety Month and it begins by celebrating Dr.
Heimlich’s technique that has saved many lives since it was introduced in 1974. “According to Injury Facts, choking is the fourth leading cause of unintentional injury death. Of the 5,553 people who died from choking in 2022, rates of death rose rapidly at about age 71.”3
At the age of 96, Dr. Heimlich passed away after suffering a fatal heart attack.
The need for the Heimlich maneuver to be used reminds me of a Bible passage. Matthew 13:3-9 says, “And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; (4) And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: (5) Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: (6) And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. (7) And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: (8) But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. (9) Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”
The explanation to the parable is found in Matthew 13:18-23. The one verse that pertains to our “choking victim” is found in Matthew 13:22. “He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.”
If a person is choking, you want to help them as quickly as possible, right? But what about spiritual weeds that are causing choking. What are we supposed to do? As if anticipating this question, the Lord continued with this explanation.
“Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: (25) But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. (26) But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. (27) So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? (28) He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? (29) But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. (30) Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” (Matthew 13:24-30)
Suppose we set out to eradicate the earth of every weed there is. In northwest Ohio alone, some of the most common weeds are dandelion, crabgrass, ragweed, thistle, and gypsum. Imagine if the gardeners and farmers set out to kill 100% of those weeds. The effort would devour their time, and they would never get anything planted!
Could the church be guilty of this? I wonder if it couldn’t be said that we spend the majority of our time trying to pluck weeds when, instead, we should be planting seeds. We spend a LOT of time talking about all the weeds of the world. Many measures will be taken to stop those weeds but, truthfully, we aren’t going to be able to stop the weeds. I know that there are some weeds that are obvious and in our path that we can pull. However, the laser-focus on pulling could be hindering our planting.
Weeds are a part of the curse, and they will be there until the curse is lifted. Till then, let’s get to planting! As we plant, remember what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3:6. “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.”
1https://henryjheimlich.com/
2https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/21675-heimlich-maneuver
3https://www.nsc.org/community-safety/safety-topics/choking?
Images are taken from https://pixabay.com/, https://www.pexels.com/, or https://unsplash.com/images or created in Windows Copilot. According to the websites, they are Royalty Free and free to be used for our purposes.
