Naomi's Blog

Naomi's Blog

The Other Holy Day - Christian History

"It's common to hear from the pulpit that no one can fully appreciate the joy of Easter Sunday without experiencing the darkness of Good Friday. But the disciples would have been bewildered by both without the lesson of Holy Thursday. The day they received the command to love, had their feet washed by a king, and first understood the link between the Passover sacrifice, Christ, and the bread of life, shouldn't be missed by any of us, even if the calendar shows a blank square."

End-of-Life Ethics, Sojourners Magazine/August 2004

This is an interesting article; here is an excerpt: THIS CONTROVERSY provides an opportunity for reflection for all Christians, Catholic and otherwise. The decisions to be made in the case of apparent PVS are rarely simple. The determination of whether someone is in a persistent vegetative state is not an exact science - a British study in the mid 1990s found that 43 percent of a group of patients diagnosed as PVS (17 out of 40 studied) were misdiagnosed (later found to be alert and able to communicate). And given the flawed nature of human beings, family members charged with making care decisions for an incapacitated patient may not always have the patient's best interests at heart. Christian tradition calls us to give special care and attention to the weakest in our community, and to view life as sacred in a way that is not diminished by illness or disability. On the other hand, most Christians believe that the everyday miracle that is our body is not the sum total of our existence. Death, the inevitable surrender of the physical being, is in another way just a step in the life of faith. All of this is a reminder that, as difficult as the topic may be, we owe it to ourselves and the people who we love to discuss end-of-life issues in our families and with our pastors. Living wills and other forms of advanced directives are not perfect (and are useless if your healthcare provider doesn't know that you have one - a common occurrence). But they are the best vehicle for making your wishes known at a time when you are unable to communicate them, and may make a difficult time somewhat easier for those you love.

Terri Shiavo

I have been thinking about this. My dh said something about her brain stem having been liquefied. Whether or not that is the case here, it made me think about where would I draw the line about euthanasia. Terry's husband claims that she wouldn't want to live (or not live) like this--well, is that a good enough reason? If I were brain damaged--not brain dead, just lost some mental capacity--would my quality of life suffer? Yes. Could God still have a purpose for my life? Yes. Even if no one could imagine what it could be? This opens a legal can of worms. And a moral one. (I don't know if this husband were abusive or if his starting a new family should be taken into consideration to remove his guardianship.) Just because you give someone permission to kill you, should they?? To abate suffering? I remember being both heartbroken and inspired by stories of mothers killing their young children to prevent them being captured and abused in WWII. And then, always the question. Where do you draw the line? Terminal cancer? Having the HIV virus? Having the genetic propensity toward diabetes? Suffering from borderline personality disorder? being cross-eyed? or criminally violent? AND THEN--if we are going to terminate someone's life. How best to do it? Remove artificial life support? Machines that animate a dead body? Remove sustenance? That seems slow and painful--even if your brain is the equivalent of a small animal or just running on instinct--we don't kill animals like that. It isn't 'humane'. So...lethal injections? A criminal's death isn't very dignified. I am not drawing any conclusions here in my thoughts. Just that the world is less than perfect--fallen, and we have to make the best decisions we can--relying on God's wisdom, and the Spirit's guidance, not our own understanding.