Since the days of my youth I have loved music. For years I belonged to different orchestras and concert bands as well as listening to the popular music that played on the radio. As I began to grow in faith, I began to note how various compositions reflected some of the divine lessons that I learned in my catechism classes. For example Stevie Wonder's hit 'I Just Called to Say I Love You' struck me as expressing the essence of what prayer was: placing ourselves in God's presence to say that we loved him while listening to him reply with similar words. A more current example can be found in Leonard Cohen's 'Show Me the Place' brought me to think of the importance of accepting God's guidance in my life, even when it brought me to confront difficult situations in my life. If there's a song that deals with the reality of suffering in our lives, I can think of none that better expresses this sentiment than Lynn Anderson's massive country hit from the 70's, 'I Never Promised You a Rose Garden'.
I have often recommended listening to Anderson's hit as an aid for Christians who are struggling with the mistaken belief that somehow their religious conviction meant that they should be exempt from the tragedies, trials, and sufferings that are endemic in every human's life. It reminds us that any reward we might receive as a recompense for our faith was promised to us not here in this life, but rather at a later time when Christ returns with his angels in glory on the day of the general resurrection from the dead at the end of time.
The other point that I make is to remind such folks that suffering in an integral part of our human existence coming as it does from our sinful and fallen nature. This means that while we shouldn't race out to embrace needless pain or trial, we should understand the salvific element embedded within suffering which can bring us closer to God. After all, one need only reflect upon Christ's passion and look at a crucifix to realize that God indeed suffered to bring us the gift of salvation. Unfortunately this essential truth is not well understood or accepted in our time as we strive harder and harder to distance ourselves from suffering and pain, seeing it as a needless and onerous act. This misguided aim is what underpins the modern drive in western countries to implement a policy of euthanasia with the goal of 'eliminating' any final suffering we might endure in the last days of our life here on earth. One need only look to Quebec which recently enacted legislation to facilitate such 'end of life care' (what a deceitful euphemism - joining other such doublespeak terms as 'mercy killing' to cover an act whereby the State terminates the life of a citizen) instead of strengthening and funding a program of palliative care (which aims to provide effective pain management in our final days, permitting people to experience death at the time appointed by God in lieu of at a time of our own choosing.)
Such legislative initiatives do more than simply provide a new 'end of life' option for some citizens. It is in fact a clear danger to all citizens.
First, one should consider the corrosive effect this procedure wrecks on the medical profession which has for 3000 years been guided by the Hippocratic oath whose first principle is 'Do no harm'. Terminating a human life most certainly stands in contradiction to this edict. Thus once this barrier is breached physicians become instruments of death rather than agents of healing. Add to this the likelihood that once euthanasia is permitted as an option that it will soon become an option imposed on citizens in lieu of other forms of care which are far more expensive than a simple injection. When we consider that the vast majority of healthcare dollars are spent during the last years of a person's life, how long will senior citizens be offered the more expensive option when a government can deal with the issue in a far more cost effective (if lethal) way?
People will of course say that this is a red herring argument since euthanasia is applied only at the behest of the individual and not the government. Yet if we look to those jurisdictions where it has been practiced in recent years, one cannot deny that this guarantee of safety is rapidly eroding with the consequence that a significant percentage of those euthanized are now being killed without their express consent. Clearly the evidence points to the fact that the 'protections' offered by the enacting legislation is insufficient to guarantee that one will not have their life terminated without their consent.
And why is euthanasia becoming such a popular option? Simply because people are losing belief that suffering can have a meritorious effect in our lives. Perhaps they should have had a chat with my mother!
My mother began battling cancer when I was four or five years old and continued to fight it three more times until it finally claimed her life when I turned 30, the year I was ordained a priest. After she received her final terminal diagnosis. As she was approaching her death I took it upon myself to visit to use some of the pastoral theology that I had studied in the seminary. I figured that she had good reason to be angry with God given all the surgeries and treatments she had endured throughout her adult life - so I asked her if she ever told Him that she was PO'd with the hand that he had dealt her.
I'll never forget the withering look she gave me as she peered up from the needlepoint she was working on and then asked me how I, as a priest, could ask her such a 'stupid question'? She then sat me down beside her on the side of her bed as she flipped over her handiwork so that the underside was on top, revealing a tangle of threads that belied the garden scene that was printed on the other side. "When we look at God's plan from the perspective of this life" she said, "it seems to be nothing more than a confused jumble of threads of various colours. It's almost impossible to see where the thread of our individual lives is woven into his divine plan."But", she continued, flipping the material right-side up, "when we see things from God's perspective, then I will see how the highs and lows, the joys and sorrows of my life has been woven into God's great plan." "With faith" she concluded "I can only trust that the events of my life will serve to benefit not only me, but perhaps my children, grandchildren, and friends too who might be spared a crisis in their life because I let God weave the thread of my life into his design without complaint or objection. I have no reason to be mad at God. I simply have to surrender myself into God's hands, even if that means that I have to accept a measure of suffering and pain that comes when he chooses to tie the thread of my life into knots."
She taught me a valuable lesson that day: that all the events of our lives, good and bad, pleasurable or sad, joy-filled or laden with suffering have a valuable role to play in shaping who we are now and who we will become in the life to come. With a simple piece of stitchery, she reminded me again that God indeed didn't promise us a rose garden in the here and now... but that if we accepted the discordant notes in the song of our life, we might be able to hear are far more beautiful composition in heaven. Those who today are promoting euthanasia as a means of avoiding the 'out of tune' moments at the end of life would do well to hear and heed her advice as well. If ever I forget, I just need to look on the wall where her stitchery masterpiece is hung... or a crucifix to be reminded that it's possible for good things to come from suffering.
I have often recommended listening to Anderson's hit as an aid for Christians who are struggling with the mistaken belief that somehow their religious conviction meant that they should be exempt from the tragedies, trials, and sufferings that are endemic in every human's life. It reminds us that any reward we might receive as a recompense for our faith was promised to us not here in this life, but rather at a later time when Christ returns with his angels in glory on the day of the general resurrection from the dead at the end of time.
The other point that I make is to remind such folks that suffering in an integral part of our human existence coming as it does from our sinful and fallen nature. This means that while we shouldn't race out to embrace needless pain or trial, we should understand the salvific element embedded within suffering which can bring us closer to God. After all, one need only reflect upon Christ's passion and look at a crucifix to realize that God indeed suffered to bring us the gift of salvation. Unfortunately this essential truth is not well understood or accepted in our time as we strive harder and harder to distance ourselves from suffering and pain, seeing it as a needless and onerous act. This misguided aim is what underpins the modern drive in western countries to implement a policy of euthanasia with the goal of 'eliminating' any final suffering we might endure in the last days of our life here on earth. One need only look to Quebec which recently enacted legislation to facilitate such 'end of life care' (what a deceitful euphemism - joining other such doublespeak terms as 'mercy killing' to cover an act whereby the State terminates the life of a citizen) instead of strengthening and funding a program of palliative care (which aims to provide effective pain management in our final days, permitting people to experience death at the time appointed by God in lieu of at a time of our own choosing.)
Such legislative initiatives do more than simply provide a new 'end of life' option for some citizens. It is in fact a clear danger to all citizens.
First, one should consider the corrosive effect this procedure wrecks on the medical profession which has for 3000 years been guided by the Hippocratic oath whose first principle is 'Do no harm'. Terminating a human life most certainly stands in contradiction to this edict. Thus once this barrier is breached physicians become instruments of death rather than agents of healing. Add to this the likelihood that once euthanasia is permitted as an option that it will soon become an option imposed on citizens in lieu of other forms of care which are far more expensive than a simple injection. When we consider that the vast majority of healthcare dollars are spent during the last years of a person's life, how long will senior citizens be offered the more expensive option when a government can deal with the issue in a far more cost effective (if lethal) way?
People will of course say that this is a red herring argument since euthanasia is applied only at the behest of the individual and not the government. Yet if we look to those jurisdictions where it has been practiced in recent years, one cannot deny that this guarantee of safety is rapidly eroding with the consequence that a significant percentage of those euthanized are now being killed without their express consent. Clearly the evidence points to the fact that the 'protections' offered by the enacting legislation is insufficient to guarantee that one will not have their life terminated without their consent.
And why is euthanasia becoming such a popular option? Simply because people are losing belief that suffering can have a meritorious effect in our lives. Perhaps they should have had a chat with my mother!
My mother began battling cancer when I was four or five years old and continued to fight it three more times until it finally claimed her life when I turned 30, the year I was ordained a priest. After she received her final terminal diagnosis. As she was approaching her death I took it upon myself to visit to use some of the pastoral theology that I had studied in the seminary. I figured that she had good reason to be angry with God given all the surgeries and treatments she had endured throughout her adult life - so I asked her if she ever told Him that she was PO'd with the hand that he had dealt her.
I'll never forget the withering look she gave me as she peered up from the needlepoint she was working on and then asked me how I, as a priest, could ask her such a 'stupid question'? She then sat me down beside her on the side of her bed as she flipped over her handiwork so that the underside was on top, revealing a tangle of threads that belied the garden scene that was printed on the other side. "When we look at God's plan from the perspective of this life" she said, "it seems to be nothing more than a confused jumble of threads of various colours. It's almost impossible to see where the thread of our individual lives is woven into his divine plan."But", she continued, flipping the material right-side up, "when we see things from God's perspective, then I will see how the highs and lows, the joys and sorrows of my life has been woven into God's great plan." "With faith" she concluded "I can only trust that the events of my life will serve to benefit not only me, but perhaps my children, grandchildren, and friends too who might be spared a crisis in their life because I let God weave the thread of my life into his design without complaint or objection. I have no reason to be mad at God. I simply have to surrender myself into God's hands, even if that means that I have to accept a measure of suffering and pain that comes when he chooses to tie the thread of my life into knots."
She taught me a valuable lesson that day: that all the events of our lives, good and bad, pleasurable or sad, joy-filled or laden with suffering have a valuable role to play in shaping who we are now and who we will become in the life to come. With a simple piece of stitchery, she reminded me again that God indeed didn't promise us a rose garden in the here and now... but that if we accepted the discordant notes in the song of our life, we might be able to hear are far more beautiful composition in heaven. Those who today are promoting euthanasia as a means of avoiding the 'out of tune' moments at the end of life would do well to hear and heed her advice as well. If ever I forget, I just need to look on the wall where her stitchery masterpiece is hung... or a crucifix to be reminded that it's possible for good things to come from suffering.
Your mother was an amazing woman. We can all learn from your story. Thanks for sharing!
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