Posted on 10/11/2004 2:06:13 AM PDT by Dr. Eckleburg
I preface this short vanity by saying I am pro-life, anti-abortion, anti-stem cell playing-God...
I have a friend who worked on Christopher Reeve's latest TV movie which Reeve just finished directing.
Movie sets are generally bedlam, filled with chaos, complaints, back-stabbing and petty irritations.
My friend said this production was different -- a life-changing experience for everyone involved with it.
The direction on the set was altered to accommodate Reeve's limitations which, according to my friend, were unimaginable. Reeve had to show up before dawn hours ahead of schedule in order to prepare for the rigors of production. He was constantly hooked up to machines. He could move nothing but his facial muscles. He was never alone, yet he was all alone.
Throughout the weeks, Reeve was steady, focused and serene. No one argued about craft services or late entrances or slow lighting. Everyone pitched in and did more than their share -- willingly, gratefully, aware of the tremendous effort Reeve was making and of his constant, unfathomable suffering.
My friend is not a particularly religious man, but he said he felt blessed and humbled to witness Christopher Reeve's profound courage and grace.
His pain is ended; he's strong and whole now. May God comfort those who loved him.
Thank you Dr. for this very nice tribute to a very brave man who suffered so much. I do pray that he is whole now and at peace. What a lovely story you told us about his final days.
RIP Chris, and may God comfort his loved ones.
Awesome!!!!
Amen.
IMO many people out there were emotionally backmailed by Reeve's plight, thus open to making Dr. Frankenstein the Surgeon General.
No, read the context. I was comparing you, a Reeve defender, to Hitler.
Now if you want to take things out of context, that YOUR prerogative AND problem.
"How about some class and courtesy? I know, I'm expecting way too much from this place anymore."
You mean like the "class and courtesy" you just gave me??
Hypocrite.
You do seem to have an issue with Jesus, I gather; though you blame it on Christians.
I honestly believe that if you read my posts in this thread, any honest question you have will be answered. It's all on the table.
Dan
Haven't read the entire thread, so perhaps others have answered this, but if not the lifespan is about 7 years according to one of Chris's doctors I saw interviewed today.
Thanks for your post. I am as prolife as they come, and I felt greatly saddened to learn the news of Reeve's death this morning. Leaving aside Reeve's views on ESC (which I vehemently disagree with) and the Democrats' exploitation of his death, I have to say I truly admired his remarkable courage over the past 9 years.
If you think about it, Reeve's achievement of making something positive in the wake of his tragedy did a great deal for the prolife movement, even if he didn't intend it that way. He showed millions of Americans that even the most severely disabled can contribute and lead worthwhile lives. Reeve's life should bolster the efforts of those who belong to such groups as Not Dead Yet! He was living proof that being a whole human being isn't just a matter of the body.
I can even understand his grasping at the straw of ESC to help find a cure for his condition, though I deeply disagree with his advocacy for it. Let the Democrats try to exploit his death -- I think voters will see it for what it is.
We can and should fight the pro-ESC movement tooth and nail, but let's also honor what Reeve did to uphold dignity and respect for the disabled. RIP Christopher Reeve.
Absolutely beautiful post -- you hit the nail on the head. Thank you.
"Circumstances" are given by God, x. Like everything else.
And I stand by my observation that "Perhaps Christopher Reeve was meant to teach us just how stubborn and fallen mankind really is. How any person could suffer like he suffered and NOT come to faith is surely an astounding lesson in hubris."
Hubris, as in the First Commandment, was the first and greatest sin in Eden ("ye shall be as gods") and one we carry still.
I like what Anglican Calvinist Richard Sibbes wrote four centuries ago.
"This is a life of faith, for God will try the truth of our faith, so that the world may see that God has such servants as will depend upon His bare word."
So here's what I finally take from Christopher Reeve's life and death. If a man of no faith can endure such relentless agony, how can I complain? I have His bare word.
If you think about it, Reeve's achievement of making something positive in the wake of his tragedy did a great deal for the prolife movement, even if he didn't intend it that way. He showed millions of Americans that even the most severely disabled can contribute and lead worthwhile lives.
I was told the same thing a long time ago by a man who had spent his life in a wheelchair. He despised the liberals who pushed euthanasia as a remedy for his "condition."
I never made the arrogant mistake again of spouting "I wouldn't want to live if I was in a wheelchair."
Life is not our own to give or take. Thank God.
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