Watching the Slow Death

 "See the lights do a long, slow fade ..." Bruce Hornsby

I watched the long, slow fade of my mom as Alzheimer's and Dementia stole the woman I knew as mom. It was very hard, especially emotionally to watch. It was draining in the extreme. Who she was faded away over time. At the end, she retained a good bit of who she was but much was still lost. When we moved her to Hospice, she went fast. Sadly, this is not always the case.

There are those who push for assisted suicide. They posit that people should not be made to suffer. That once they're dying, we should allow them to hasten the process rather than suffer. I understand that sentiment after watching my mom go. I am also currently watching someone much-loved fade away. The Medical community says they have done all they can, so she was brought home to die the long, slow fade. Some, when they go into Hospice, pass quickly. For others, it is sadly a prolonged affair as the body shuts down. It is gut-wrenching and painful to watch and can seriously damage your ability to 'feel' as sometimes the wall you build can't be torn down as easily as it went up. It feels so inhumane to not speed them on their way as it were. Yet, who are we to make that decision?

I follow Christ. Not perfectly, most definitely not as well as I'd like. Yet, HIS is the decision, not ours. We are not qualified to make that choice. Cruel, you say? Where does our so-called 'mercy' stop? Assisted suicide has already been abused, in the name of 'mercy' of course. It's being allowed for many things, not just terminal illness. That is evil. Man's Nature is evil. We have not the right! God gives life and this life we have ends on His timeline, not ours. Man has created a god in his own image many times throughout History. It has led to murder and slaughter every time. Jews, the unborn, the undesirable, The Other. Mankind always finds a reason to kill other men. So-called 'mercy' is just as good an excuse as any other. As God said to Job, "Who are you, oh man?" 

Watching a loved one die hurts. It seems cruel to the human mind. God has a purpose for it, however. It is not up to us to gainsay the Creator of all life. He is the potter and we the clay. He is sovereign. Someday we will have the answers to the questions we've had all our lives. Until then, we must have Faith in His plan, hard as that can be sometimes. To Him be the glory.