What I Learned From Dr. Taybi: A Life of Gratitude

What I learned from Dr. Taybi: A life of gratitude

“Before I ventured forth,

even while I was very young,

   I sought wisdom openly in my prayer.” Ecclesiasticus 51:13.

As I prayed today for refugees and those seeking to immigrate to our country, I came across a note from Dr. Hooshang Taybi, posted on Daily Something yesterday. Dr. Taybi wrote the letter three weeks before he died, in response to my email after he learned of his terminal illness. 

If you are a radiologist or pediatrician, you will remember Dr. Taybi, best known for studying children with difficulties that become part of a syndrome. He was professionally acclaimed for his encyclopedic memory of more than 100 journals he read, which led to his classic textbook, The Radiology of Syndromes.

But I most remember his kindness, humility, and care for others, empowering others, and never being too important to spend time with you. 

A colleague shares a line from Dr. Taybi’s favorite Persian poem: “The best way to show your gratitude for having a strong arm is to extend a helping hand to the weak.”1

I see the life of a brilliant man who, near the end of his life, still expresses gratitude to those who helped him more than 50 years earlier. Dr. Taybi still empowers us today by telling stories about children with illnesses, recounting how he was empowered and expressing gratitude for all who touched his life, even to the end. I continue to see every day the difference gratitude can make in a person’s life. 

Today, I will try to remember and give thanks to those who empowered me, and pray that I can pass on empowerment and gratitude to others. I also want to remember Dr. Taybi’s story about the many strangers who helped him throughout his life. I hope to do the same for those who come to our country, remembering Dr. Taybi’s story of how he sought a new life. 

I also remember that if a travel ban had been in place for Muslim countries such as Iran, Dr. Taybi would never have come to America. I think of all of us whose lives would not have been touched by his wisdom, especially the children and their parents, who would have missed his medical expertise.

1Ron Cohen, Charles Gooding, “Memorial Hooshang Taybi,” in AJR, 187:1382-1383, 2006.

Joanna   https://www.joannaseibert.com/

A Letter From Dr. Taybi

A Letter from Dr. Taybi

Shortly before he died, I received this letter from this famous pediatric radiologist who taught us about so many developmental problems in children, who had been a refugee from Iran:

Rev. Joanna J. Seibert: 

Dear Joanna (please call me Hoosh):

Thank you very much for your kind email. Your encouragement is most appreciated. I have accepted my illness and have no trouble dealing with the situation, thanks primarily to the support of my loving wife, Alice, and my children.

I am so thankful for all the opportunities I have been given by my mentors, friends, and, many times, strangers in this country. Your kindness and your email bring me back to 1946, when I was a practicing pediatrician in the city of Hamedan in Iran. An American missionary ran a small hospital and clinic, headed by a young American, Dr. Frame. One day, I told him I planned to go to America to get more education. A son of a missionary, he spoke Farsi fluently. I told him I wanted to learn “American.” He taught me a few words in “American” [English]. 

When I left Iran, Mrs. Frame gave me a letter to deliver to her parents, the Andersons. I arrived in New York City in December 1948, just before Christmas, and found my way to the Andersons’ apartment in Manhattan. Mr. Anderson took me to New York University, met with Professor Tobin, the Dean of Students, and enrolled me in an English class. The Andersons were missionaries who had spent many years in South America’s jungles. 

Their kindness did not end there. Many times, they invited me to their home, and I spent the 1949 Christmas there in New Jersey. The Frames moved back to the USA, and Dr. Frame had a practice in New York City.

In 1964, we offered a course in Pediatric Radiology at Indiana University Medical Center. I invited Dr. Frame to come as my guest and attend the course. He could not attend, but in a kind note he wrote: “I see your ‘American’ has much improved,” referring to my use of American instead of English in 1948!! This type of kindness is unforgettable. To the end of my life, I shall remember what they did for a man from another land and another culture. Two of the Anderson photographs from my album are attached.

I greatly appreciate your family's remembering our meeting this old friend. Please extend my regards to them, and I hope we meet again at another SPR gathering.

Hoosh

Joanna  https://www.joannaseibert.com/

Psalm 133, Unity and Dew Point: Being Right but Having Awareness of How We have Harmed Another

Psalm 133: Dew Point.

 Being Right but Having Awareness of How We Have Harmed Another

Morning Dew Down by the Dock George Taylor

1 How very good and pleasant it is
    when kindred live together in unity!
2 It is like the precious oil on the head,
    running down upon the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
    running down over the collar of his robes.
3 It is like the dew of Hermon,
    which falls on the mountains of Zion.
For there the Lord ordained his blessing,
    life forevermore.

In a recent issue of Sunday’s Coming in the Christian Century,1 Methodist pastor Melissa Earley reminds us that Psalm 133 compares our living together in unity to dew forming on the snow-capped mountains of Hermon in the North and falling on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem in the South. 

Dew forms when air cools at night and condenses into liquid water droplets. It forms when grass and leaves cool below the surrounding air temperature. The same happens when we take a shower. Warm water droplets condense on the cooler mirror in our bathroom. 

When we are having difficulty with someone, a moment sometimes comes in a mediated conversation when, by God’s Grace, we begin to listen and hear beyond our need to be right, and to hear and see the pain we have caused in the other person’s voice. We realize we have a part in the disagreement. 12-Step work calls it a moment of clarity. We have caused harm as well as been injured ourselves. We have reached the dew point in the midst of conflict, that moment when the heat of our anger is suddenly cooled by a flash of deeper understanding and compassion, perhaps by way of the Holy Spirit. It no longer matters whether we might be right. What matters is the hurt we have caused and our desire to repair what we can of the relationship.

I pray for forgiveness for all the conflicts in which I never reached a dew point and, as a result, lost a friendship I once treasured.—1Melissa Earley, “Once Estranged,” Sunday’s Coming, Christian Century, August 16, 2026

Joanna joannaseibert.com