Posted on 10/11/2014 11:11:40 AM PDT by Kaslin
By all accounts Brittany Maynard’s is a life well lived.
Sure, we’re not God, so we have no idea where she stands eternally. We don’t know if she’s sought the forgiveness for her sins that is found only in Jesus Christ, but we can pray that she has before it’s too late.
However, from what we can humanly see, Maynard has lived a life of courage and adventure—even climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. Sadly, though, it now seems she may not live to see her 30th birthday. In April, the 29-year old Maynard was diagnosed with a stage four malignant brain tumor. She was given six months to live.
“I’ve discussed with many experts how I would die from it and it’s a terrible way to die,” Maynard told People Magazine. “Being able to choose to go with dignity is less terrifying.”
Seeking that dignified death, Maynard plans to end her own life on November 1st with prescribed medication. So much for that Hippocratic Oath. For thousands of years the taking of one’s own life has been commonly referred to as “suicide.” But nowadays even suicide is a post-modern construct, so Maynard maintains she’s not committing suicide by committing suicide.
“There is not a cell in my body that is suicidal or wants to die,” Maynard says. “I want to live. I wish there was a cure for my disease but there is not.”
I cannot imagine what Maynard and her family are facing and urge everyone reading this to pray for them during this difficult time. Her desire to avoid this suffering for her, and her husband and loved ones as well, is very human and understandable.
However, what she ultimately seeks cannot be found, because there is no such thing as a dignified death.
Death is indignity by its very nature. We were originally created to live forever, but we chose to go our own way, thus death entered into the world. Death is the result of the suffering we have caused this world, not some idle occurrence that is merely the natural way of things. This is why St. Paul writes that Christ, by rising from the grave, has “conquered the last enemy” and destroyed death. There is no death, indignity, or suffering to fear once we acknowledge the death and suffering Christ endured on our behalf to give us eternal life.
Remember when the story of a limited time to live meant going out with a bang, making your way through your bucket list, or giving inspiring speeches to those you’ll leave behind to make sure they make every moment count? Sadly, Maynard has instead decided to spend what she’s convinced are her final moments of life becoming a political cause célèbre for death.
While there is no such thing as a dignified death, there is such a thing as a meaningful death. How, why, where, or when someone dies can testify to the meaning (worth/dignity) of that person’s life. This is why we commemorate sacrificial love, because there is no greater love than a willingness to give one’s life for another. We can give no more than our own self.
By making the decision to end her own life on November 1st, Maynard is assuming she has nothing more to offer this world or her loved ones beyond that point. That is to say in essence she is playing God and making decisions as if she alone knows the future.
How does she know a loved one wasn’t going to need a comforting word from her on November 2nd? How does she know her husband might not need her support on November 3rd? How does she know she wasn’t intended to be the one that was going to play a key part in saving someone’s life on November 4th? How does she know a miraculous cure wouldn’t be discovered on November 5th? Perhaps Christ returns on November 6th and fulfills his promise to wipe away every tear from our eyes.
And why choose November 1st when she was given six months to live back in April? By making it to November at all Maynard has already defied her original diagnosis if you do the math.
I write this not to criticize Maynard, but to provoke her to move beyond her fear of suffering, and see the world as it really is and her life as it was really intended to be. We are supposed to share one another’s burdens, not see ourselves as a burden. We are to live every day as if it may be our last, not seek after and even schedule our last day.
People Magazine described Maynard as “fearless,” but ironically it seems as if her decision to commit suicide is based solely out of fear. The fear of physical torment. The fear of how it will negatively impact her loved ones. The fear of becoming undignified as a result of a terrible affliction.
These are all fears most of us cannot possibly understand, but I know someone who does. His name is Jesus Christ. He was brutally beaten beyond recognition for wrongs he didn’t commit. He carried a cross he couldn’t bear. He was nailed to a tree and died a death he didn’t deserve.
He knows what you’re going through, Brittany, and has already suffered what you fear happening to you—but even worse. For his willingness to lay down his life for you (us), he has been given all power under heaven and earth. That means he has you alive right now for a reason. He has a purpose for you to inspire and love others, and he wants them to inspire and love on you as well.
And he wants you to know that perfect love casts out all fear.
Self-absorption and self-promotion regarding the destruction of self seems more than just a little contradictory, doesn’t it?
Once WE decide that suicide for the terminally ill is a good idea, it won’t be long before the government steps in and agrees that they think it’s a good idea also. Then they will take over the “suicide” business with “SuicideCare”. Good luck with this.
The author is entitled to his belief, but it is meaningless to anyone who doesn't share his faith in that particular brand of revelation. To others it seems insane that death in the world is the result of something humans did, and not a part the nature of things. He admits he doesn't know if the person in question shares his faith, so he should either make an argument that doesn't rely on it, or mind his own business.
“We were originally created to live forever, but we chose to go our own way, “
Ah yes. Collective punishment done by a supposedly loving Creator. What a pant load.
Yeah there are. I knew a guy whose lung issues went terminal, he went out with such grace even the hospice nurses were impressed.
Oh, interesting... Didn’t know about those early suicide sects.
Speaking only for myself, I could never condemn this unfortunate young lady for taking her own life under such circumstances, any more than I could condemn the people who jumped out of the towers on 9/11. She’s facing the same moral decision. Decision, hers.
I know someone who had brain cancer and was supposed to have been gone before 2014 began. Doctor went into shock when he got test results showing her symptoms were not the result of the cancer reoccurring.
Her odds went from 5% survival to 50% now - FWIW. However, she had a grade 4 cancer but don’t think that is the same as stage 4. So my point is you never know.
However, this woman’s situation sounds pretty bad and in a way I can’t blame her for not wanting to endure the pain and suffering that I wouldn’t put a pet through.
I’ve been following this, and this whole thing disturbs me.
I am a Christian, and it is a teaching of the denomination to which I belong (Southern Baptist) that suicide is wrong because it does not allow God Himself to be the final say-so. That is...it takes a decision that should belong to God alone.
I saw an article done by a woman who is currently suffering from Stage 4 breast cancer. It is inoperable, and she is going to die. She fights on in order to spend the last few months, weeks, and days she has with her family. She has written an open letter to the young woman who is planning to die, asking her to reconsider and to try to participate in the possible ‘joys’ that her final days may bring.
Another woman wrote that “miracles can still happen”, and that the young woman should hang on and allow that “miracle” to take place.
I’ll say it right now. I do not believe in miracles of healing. You might, and that’s fine...but I have not seen WITH MY OWN EYES or known from PERSONAL EXPERIENCE that these things exist. Any recoveries I have seen from Christians around me from things like cancer, heart disease, or whatever have been through medical science and the body’s natural healing ability. There have been a few cases where, despite the prayers and pleas to Heaven for people who are suffering, no answer came and they passed on. They are in a much better place, but that is cold comfort to those left here to grieve. Some people never recover from that grief.
That this woman does not want her last days to be filled with unimaginable pain and suffering seems quite logical to me. I can see NO, and absolutely mean NO reason or purpose for a loving and holy God to want this to take place. What possible reason can there be? Yes...I know the line from the Bible “My ways are not your ways, and My thoughts are not your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8). However, looking at it from the point of view of the suffering person, that doesn’t provide an iota of comfort...none at all.
If I were in the position of the young woman (and I thank God I am not) I would not want to spend the last days of my life in intractable pain. I know I would not have the resources (read: money) to provide for pain relief, so I’d be stuck in unimaginable agony until God provided the relief of death.
At that point...in spite of my belief...ending that pain would be a very, VERY tempting option.
“... there is no such thing as a dignified death.”
I agree. Dignity is a state for the living. Dying is never pretty, and the pro-euthanasia nutjobs can never make it so.
So what’s wrong with that?
Maybe it would be better to concentrate on making the world worth living in for all kinds of people again, instead of going on with a world that only a few can enjoy, while the majority increasingly suffer?
There are places to get the oil that are legal, but she would still have to have a script for the 02
This woman has terminal brain cancer, so according to her, its OK to kill herself because she is going to die anyway, tell that to Valerie Harper, who was given the same death sentence and she is STILL alive and in remission..Valerie Harper chose to fight, this woman wants to off herself and give up
My mother was battling ALS and had a DNR. Just days before she caught pneumonia, she changed her mind. As a result, she lived on a ventilator and other artificial means for four years.
I asked her if she regretted making the decision and she said no. It was a painful and undignified death for her, but she stood by her decision to the very end.
As an oncology nurse, I can attest that your above statement is completely false. Not one cancer patient has ever suffered unrelentlessly, ever. In fact, most accept their suffering with patience and humility and rise above it i.e. take one day at a time.
I’m sure she could find a doc who would put her in the oxygen therapy. But instead she just wants to kill herself.
Personally I don’t get it. But then I’m a Christian and I believe you need to embrace the death God sends you. My sist4r died a bad death and she did it with dignity. I can only hope I will do the same.
You think a mere mortal can take anything from God? I don't think so!
Not only will she suffer or become vegetative, those who love her will have the saga drawn out. My heart goes out to her and those who love her.
I’m with you. If I had a terminal illness or was brain dead, I would not want someone, other than myself or my appointed person, to decide that I could not die as I choose. I think she is brave in doing so.
My ex-husband and one of his sister’s chose to die under Hospice care when cancer over took them. Thank God, they went quickly compared to some people and illnesses. I wouldn’t want to live my life hooked up to machines with no chance of coming out of there.
Death is a scary unknown but why certain people wish to keep a person out of the loving arms of God (assuming they have been saved) seems odd to me.
And on that note: if you do not have an advanced directive for health care yet...better get it done!
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