Just thinking out loud about life and death

With the everyday bustle of life in this modern age many of us don't often get the time to just sit and reflect on a given subject. I know that is the case in my life of computers and modern technology. I spend more time reading than most of my friends and family usually for learning or entertainment and one of the things I have learned is that acquisition of knowledge is different from reasoning and thought. Acquiring knowledge is but a tool to be used in the process of reasoning which is a vital part of making decisions and developing morals and ethics.

Having said that I was spurred to write this entry by a question posed to a guest on a recent talk radio show. I have been a long time talk show “junkie” preferring talk radio to music, particularly when in the car, for a number of years now. Through the grace of God and the work of the Holy Spirit I have become a Christian accepting Jesus Christ as my savior. Because of this I now listen to several talk shows hosted by Christian radio stations which is where this question arose.

The subject of the show was matters of life and death ranging from both ends of the scale starting at abortion and ending with euthanasia. A book was being discussed with the author about the current attitudes on the subject in our and the world's societies all from a Christian and biblical perspective. One of the first callers to the show asked this question.

“What is the difference between a man who has a terminal disease, cancer for example, who refuses to undergo chemotherapy or other treatments and another similarly inflicted individual having his doctor supply him with a dose of lethal drugs to be taken at a time of his choosing. “

Now the author of the book immediately sited Oregon's 1997 law permitting physician assisted suicide. So far the only one in the United States to permit such acts. She the proceeded to denounce it as an abomination and counter to God's law. This conversation went on for a few minutes until they moved on the the next caller who wanted to talk about abortion. What immediately struck me was that the question asked by the caller had been completely ignored. He didn't ask what the guest or host thought of Oregon's law he asked what the difference was between refusing treatment and physician assisted suicide. I don't know what the reason was but it seemed to me like many of the talk shows I listen to where politics is the subject and politicians “tap dance” around the questions they are asked giving the answer only to part of the question or changing the subject and answering a question they devise.

This started me thinking. After a few days I have to admit that I am still thinking and don't have an honest answer to the callers question. I have only my first hand experience to judge the subject by and it has left me with mixed results at best. Prior to Christ coming into my life this would have been a open and shut, black and white issue. I had always felt that there was no reason with todays medical technology to allow any human being to lay and suffer. Simply give them a shot and “put them to sleep” the same as you would do for any animal. This seems to be the attitude of our modern society and culture. If you are interested I just ordered a book on the subject called “The Party of Death: The Democrats, the Media, the Courts, and the Disregard for Human Life” by Ramesh Ponnuru that promises to be interesting.
I now see the issue in an entirely different light. I have come to understand that life is one of God's greatest gifts and not to be dismissed or taken taken away lightly. Earlier this year I was hospitalized in the intensive care unit and almost as soon as I was settled in hooked up to various lines and devices a doctor with a clip board came to my bedside and asked me if I had a living will. I responded that I did not and so he asked me if my condition were to deteriorate what measures if any I wanted taken to preserve my life. I immediately said that I wanted them to do whatever necessary to keep me alive which he said was a good decision based on my general physical condition and age. I think he even called me a “young man” which is questionable.

Still I wrestle with this question of how long do you allow a person to continue on when doctors tell you there is no hope that they will recover and you know this person is suffering in pain. You never know how you will react in these situations until you are actually faced with them. Until it touches you in a personal way you can only speculate on how it will affect you and the ones you love. I now have watched my mother die of lung cancer and my wifes grandfather die from emphysema and old age.

Not being able to breath is something I have always feared and one of my worst nightmares is dieing a slow death of not being able to get enough air to sustain the body. I could not give you an honest answer at this point in time what I would do if faced with that situation. I would hope that I would put my faith in God and let him decide when my time on this earth is done. In the meantime I pray that I am never required to take that test.

Doctors say that they can “manage” pain in terminal patients but it has been my experience at least with cancer patients that they reach a point where “managing pain” means being in a stupor unable to communicate with anyone around you and having little or no control over your body. I have thought about this also but have come to the conclusion that these circumstance may be harder on friends and family than the patient. Since we can not yet read minds we have no way of knowing what is in a persons thoughts or their level of consciousness when they reach that state.

I would find it hard to condemn someone who faced with uncontrollable pain that decided to end their own life or the life of a loved one. I would neither endorse nor participate in such actions but I would have the compassion to understand and would pray for those involved.

As usual I have gotten far to long winded. This is however one of the topics in todays world that I feel deserves thought and consideration. We are all mortal and will all face death at some point in the future some sooner than others. Christians have the comfort of God's promise of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. Others must decide how they will deal with these questions based on other criteria . In any case I hope that it is something that you will think about. That is all I'm doing at this point, just thinking out loud.