Culture Week - Part 1: Compassion for Terri Schiavo

Last evening I did something that usually reveals that a person has lost their mind. I sat and watched congress in session. They were debating the Terri Schiavo case. I must admit, I was pulled in all directions. As much as both sides to this argument want to believe they have an open and shut case, alas it is just not that simple. I was made more aware of that this morning as I read the various news stories on the account.

If you are not aware, in very brief form Terry Schiavo is the woman in Florida who the Florida courts (plural) have given permission to stop giving nourishment deeming her to be in a permanent vegetative state. This very sad, extremely traumatic event began in 1990 when a heart attack cut oxygen from her brain. She has been in this state pretty much since then. Her husband had led the fight to have nutrition removed deeming her with no quality of life and in a permanent unrecoverable state. Several (I am not sure how many) Florida courts have agreed with him. I do not even want to think what that man has been through in these years. To complicate matters, he is supposed to now have a common law wife and children by her, and has moved on.

Her parents, brother and family are fighting this issue. Last evening the Senate cleared the way for congress to allow Federal Courts to intervene, even though I believe the Supreme Court has denied hearing the case in the past.

The arguments are compelling on both sides. Here are snippets:

· As one senator put it Terri is indeed “one of us,” and how we treat her as a fellow human being is how we treat ourselves.

· We are indeed saying something about ourselves when we take it upon ourselves to determine who has a quality of life worth living.

· Terri is said to possibly be able to eat with therapy. A statement I do not understand nor will attempt to.

· This is an issue that has been discussed by many folks not just a few doctors seeking to get rid of a case or a husband seeking his freedom. (Although both may or may not be pertinent issues.)

· Those who knew her well, say Terri would not want to have her life sustained in this manner. Now there is a statement that gets all of us thinking about how we would feel if we were Terri!!

It is truly heartbreaking. There is no easy out in any direction. At stake are real issues such as quality of life, value of human life, the decision making process where there is no direction from the patient and many others I am not qualified to speak on. That being the case, I am not going to state my opinion here. (Partly because I am not really sure what my opinion is!) If you are reading to hear my opinion, you can stop reading now.

I will never be listed on the friends of the extreme right, even though I probably agree with numerous stands they take. But I will likewise not be listed on the friends of the left although I agree with some of their stands as well. Most things are not as cut and dried as both sides attempt to make them.

Here is what I do know and feel pretty qualified to speak about.

1. God loves Terri Schiavo!! He loves her more than her family, her friends and anyone else loves her. God is also with her and caring for her no matter what politicians, lawyers, medical personnel, lobbyist, courts and judges decide. God loves this woman whom I have never met. God loves this woman who has not spoken in over a decade. Of that I am as convinced as I am sitting at my keyboard.

2. We face today ethical issues that were unheard and undreamed of a century ago, even half a century ago. Our world is a new place. Those in the church, my field of work, who are attempting to do ministry the way it was done before these changes quite simply are beating their heads against a wall. Issues are no longer the same.

3. God’s truth has not changed. God is indeed with us in our most trying state. If we are Terri’s parents, her brother, her husband, or Terri herself, God is with us. He cares for us. God is indeed concerned with the covenant and His people and his plans, but God is also very concerned about individuals. Jesus stopped in the midst of a throng of people to be concerned about one woman with a hemorrhaging issue that doctors had not been able to cure. The crowd was so large that those around Him were amazed that He stopped. But He did, and for one individual. (Read if for yourself in Luke 8.) Jesus cares for us as individuals. God is not impotent in helping us and caring for us in our deepest pain.

Finally, as you watch this heart wrenching story unfold, remember that God loves and cares for you too. You are not Terri Schiavo and your issues are no where near as bad as hers, but he loves you too!!!