Friday, December 30
I never thought I'd "get" Jack Kevorkian...
...and now I do, if only in part.I'm NOT saying I agree with him or his methods. I'm NOT saying he's right to have taken part in 100 assisted suicides.
But when you're forced to walk in the shoes of one (or have a family member) who's terminally ill ...in intense pain...or who's living the indignities of not being able to do ANYTHING for themselves anymore, you begin to think perhaps Kevorkian wasn't satan after all. Perhaps he WAS guided (albeit misguided) by a deep concern for the pain--physical, mental and emotional--experienced by those with whom he came into contact. Perhaps his overriding goal wasn't to end life, but to end suffering--not just for the patient himself, but for those whose lives were also inextricably altered. When you're living that kind of life, you find there are NO answers. And so you wait...for the mercy of death...or miracle.
I looked at some canvases he painted, and if his art is any indication of his perspective of life, he is one tortured soul...the depictions were grievous. Based on that and other stuff I've read about him, he's headed straight for hell. But, get this...it's won't be because he enjoyed "playing God". It won't be because he's a murderer. It won't be because he broke State laws.
It'll be because he's a sinner...just like me. But unlike me, never seeing his desperate need for a Savior. I am so thankful to be that desperate.
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5 Comments:
Janice, thank you for your thoughtful comment here. That's the thing about my old stuff, no one saw it; when I look back at it now, I realize there were often times I would have appreciated, and benefitted from, thinking with others. People who "live this life" understand. The whole thing has been a GREAT lesson in learning to listen and empathize more deeply with others. This "pain" of mine has created a sensitivity to the pain in others, regardless of whether or not its similar.
I kind of ended up the same "place" you did...
(still playing your game)
Ok - my feelings on Jack Kevorkian are:
If someone wants to end their suffering, why not let them. I know suicide is Biblically wrong - BUT - that is an individual choice for someone. I'm not talking about the lonely, sad 25 year old ending their life - but the terminally ill suffering patient. If they want to do it, I say 'let them' - Just as I think the Government should stay out of the bedroom and women's bodies.
If suicide is wrong - then that is between God and the person who did it. No one else.
I think that Jack Kevorkian's legal responsibility is very different than a terminally ill person's. He was punished because he broke laws. I think he had more than one chance to stop as well.
Robin, I'm sorry for your family's suffering.
It's hard to watch loved ones suffer. At the same time, so many people have become wonderful testimonies of God's love and mercy and strength in times of pain. Others can see the beauty as they draw close to the end of their lives.
Having watched more than one person suffer a slow agonizing death.... I am torn between "hope" and "resignation"
.... you are correct about sin. It's one word. On a scale of 1.
I read the comments to go with the pictures. While we have hope in eternal life, he believes there is nothing after death. What you believe about eternity impacts your actions when it comes to the end of a pain-filled, disease-ridden life.
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