The event “Crisis Negotiation: from Death Grip to Open Hands” was hosted by the Vellore CMC Foundation during Eastertide, the season that focuses on celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Our guest lecturer, Dr. Julia Wattacheril, Director of the Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Program, Associate Professor of Medicine, Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation, Columbia University-NY Presbyterian Hospital, spoke about the fact that God can pour “New wine into new wineskins, Mark 7:22” during a crisis.

As a Christian, Dr. Wattacheril’s passion for faith and work integration began in medical school at the Baylor College of Medicine. During this time she also became well acquainted with CMC Vellore and was invited to participate in a student rotation there. In her illuminating lecture, Dr. Wattacheril said that events need not define us in a crisis, but they can help shape and transform us, providing opportunities to increase our faith and trust in God as we lean into “God’s lavish love and blessings upon us.” Julia also reminded us that our identity as a child of God is “being God’s beloved and having the freedom of being loved and declared worthy infinitely.”