time is so precious...handle with care!
did you see the full moon come up last night? It is a sight that I will never tire of!
Be careful what you do, and always do what is right (Proverbs 4:26, NCV).
Last night as I tried to fall asleep, I was think about this whole "death with dignity" thing that I have posted about before. Of how, when people are faced with terrible diagnoses, they consider ending their lives rather than allowing life to end on it's own. I thought about how my husband's uncle, when he was given a terminal diagnosis, choose to fight it and lived for another 18 months before God finally took him home. But it was 18 productive months....months that would have been wasted had he also chosen to end it all at the initial diagnosis!
A friend of mine posted on Facebook a website in which a query about this subject came up. How is end of life suicide any different than suicide when a person just feels so desperate to be rid of the pain? I really thought about that one. How can one compare one to the other was my first thought. We all get depressed from time to time; to say otherwise is to be living in pure denial. Some of us do suffer from clinical depression also, but it can be treated if caught and monitored. So why would anyone want to end it all when they have so much before them? Why would anyone question God as to when they should leave this earthly existence? Maybe, just maybe...the devil is in the details? Heavy sigh....
Here was my response to this query:
"ok...I am not OK with this. Suicide...yes, I have been there. Now...to combine that...with the desperation of what I felt at that time (I had just found out the someone I loved had cheated on me with someone else) with suicide...even "assisted" suicide, and had followed through...I would have missed out on LIFE! Oh my God...so many wonderful, beautiful things happened since that sad/confusing time...I became a published author! I watched my two grandkids be born (not in the room, but to be born into this life) I have since married a wonderful man who loves me unconditionally (not the one who hurt me) I have been writing a blog that so many say has helped them to get through their struggles and pain so that they do not choose death over life. We all have our pain...but for a perfectly healthy person to say, "I can't do this anymore, just cut me loose!" well....to me it takes God out of the picture. Jesus didn't say that. He didn't say to God..."you know, Abba Father, you got this crucifixion thing hanging over me like a lead weight....you know what...just do me in now so that I don't have to suffer through all of the pain and humiliation of dying on a friggin' cross!" NO! He embraced what was happening in His life as an example to US...that by His stripes, we ARE HEALED!!!!! I hope this makes sense to all of you reading this. Life....yes, it's hard...no one said it would be easy...but I am in it for the long haul. I also have dealt with cancer....and I begged God to let me live, but if I were to suffer and die, to allow me the chance to grace another with my courage while I fought it. God IS with us....Emmanuel..."God is with us!!"....let's never forget this!!"
Now, with that in mind, I came across a video that a friend posted on Facebook. This is a BEAUTIFUL testimony to what happens when one puts faith in God!!! Please click on the link...and have tissues handy. Praise be to God that miracles exist! For without a miracle, life would be hopeless!
dying man restores abandoned church
For the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation” (Isaiah 12:2b, ESV).
ReplyDeletethe video is just beautiful, as is your work. I have read your book about drinking, "There but for the Grace of God (plus a few good family & friends) Go I." You and rob did an outstanding job of exposing exactly what it is like to be an alcoholic. I am probably one of the worst. Treatments failed, lost my family and most of my friends. Tried detox and treatment yet again and hopefully this time it WILL work!! But this post made me think of how many times I wanted to give up and give in...of how death would just make it all go away! No one would miss me, right? But then I found your book and found that reason to go on. Hey, if rob can do it, so can I! So, can you please let him know if you see him...that his book saved me as a person? thank you!
ReplyDeleteI will do that! Thank you for your kind words!
DeleteSo many o us just take it for granted when we should have all along taken each day as the gift that it is.
ReplyDeleteI am in tears here, one for the words, the video and two for the story that you and rob wrote together. I also was "dying," as I am an alcoholic and wanted to just give up. No one wants to deal with an old bum, right? a drunk? But..through your kind words, I got myself back on track. I got to see my baby grandson! For that, I would go through a thousand million pains to be able to survive what I have now! Thank you, rev.....you are truly blessed!
ReplyDeleteAltho I follow your posts I have never commented, until now. Thank you for being HERE...without your words, I also would have had no hope. You make me feel as though someone cares...because you have pointed out so many times, that someone does!
ReplyDeleteNice words, yes...but I still say that if someone is in pain and wants to go...why stand in their way? You are not God you can't tell them what to do with their life. So maybe write about other stuff, ok?
ReplyDelete