A time to die?

(see earlier blogs on this subject)

Someone said to me the day after father-in-law Len was taken to hospital having suffered a massive stroke: ‘You know what used to happen before hospitals; the old doctor would come round and give ‘em an injection…a bit extra…you know.’
Whether that was true or not, it was certainly possible. After all, we now know how easy it was for Harold Shipman…..
I am not suggesting for one moment that my friend mentioned above was advocating euthanasia, but it’s appeal is obvious.

I have read many of the arguments for euthanasia, and I remain firmly convinced that it violates the command ‘You shall do no murder’ Ex 20 v13.

I know of people lovingly caring for elderly relatives who range from needing a little extra help to completely gaga, and do so for years without complaining. Those who care for the latter must often pray to God that He would take them to be with Him. And it doesn’t happen. My heart goes out to them as they labour on unseen (but seen by God) month after month and year after year. For them I have included the link at the end.

From my own recent experience I want to say this:
Len taught us, as he lay there unable to speak, that there is a reason why the prayer for release may not be answered as soon as we want it to be…..
The time will come, but it is not yet.
The days we spent around Len’s bed (and Cindy and her twin sisters held vigil cheerfully without sleep all night on the last night) was so precious that we would not have missed it for all the world.
We all, including his wife Joyce, had prayed for him to go on his journey, but he lived for four further days…times when tears were shed, of course, but also times of celebration, wonderful memories relived, laughter, hugs, around the bed. Len was listening, and when the sedation was wearing off, he made it known.

I think in those ‘extra’ days we caught a glimpse of heaven. Certainly we reaffirmed together our Christian HOPE.

Scott Peck in his best-seller, ‘The Road Less Travelled’, describes love as something to be worked at:
'Love, in short, is work, and the basic form this work takes is attention. When we love, we attend to the growth of others …. love requires important work and great effort!'

The ‘Let’s have done and be off’ attitude doesn’t fit, does it.
Hard though it may be sometimes, we must ‘wait on the Lord’. There are yet things to be learned…

LINKS:
A link for those who care for elderly relatives:
http://www.careforthefamily.org.uk/pdf/supportnet/SN-CaringForElderlyRelatives.pdf
A link for the bereaved:
http://www.careforthefamily.org.uk/pdf/supportnet/EFIUnderstandingBereavement.pdf