Dear Michael
I am not sure if I should congratulate you on winning on most legal fronts concerning the battle to end your dear wife's life. I am a married man, just like you. I married a woman I love, presumably just like you too. As I promised to love my wife in sickness and in health, I believe you promised the same too.
I understand it's more painful to be alive in some cases of afflictions. Perhaps that's why you think it's better to end Terri's suffering now and let her go to heaven and take on a glorious form soon than remain in this afflicted body.
I think it's very noble of you to think this way. But I ask if Terri thought the same, before her feeding tube was removed. She may not have, for she believes in a God who works miracles, who raised Lazarus from the dead, who caused Sarah to give birth to Isaac in her old age when Abraham was as good as dead, a God who is God.
You are not Terri. No one, not even medical experts, can understand how Terri feels. Put aside all your legal merrymen and so-called expert opinions. Just pause to think for a moment. Think, Michael. If you truly love Terri, why wouldn't you have sought experts who believe in healing her, and instead align yourselves with those who curse her with all manner of pronouncements? How would such experts have known better if they haven't died along with the patients from whom they drew their conclusions?
"But I tried!" I hear you say. You tried for 3 years. 3 years, hmm.... but I am sorry to say this doesn't seem much. I have seen parents who spent a whole lifetime raising children afflicted with all manners of handicap & illness, Down's Syndrome and all, simply because they love them too much to even think of killing them although it seems like an easy way out.
You see, Michael, love in God's dictionary is not defined this way. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 says
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not selfseeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8Love never fails.
To the courts, you are just another case with a reference number.
To your attorneys, you are just another client with money to spend.
To your professional experts, you are just another avenue for them to assert their opinions, play God, and hopefully strengthen the case for mercy killing.
The courts, judges, attorneys, and experts don't have to live with this decision to end Terri's life. To them, Terri is nothing. They can just as easily sleep when night falls after a long day at court. I am not sure if this can be said of you. I am not sure if your girlfriend and children understand the standard of love you are practising in your treatment of Terri and her family members.
It's still not too late to do something genuine & sensible for Terri and for yourself, Michael. Put back the tube. Let Terri live as long as God is prepared to give her life. Let her indicate her choice when she is capable of choosing, in the presence of her loved ones, and that includes you, of course. Terri loves you. The last thing you need to do is to get her blessing to have her life terminated, should she choose so.
Then you can truly walk down your remaining years with honour, and more importantly, face God eventually without your legal merrymen, judges and experts, with a clean conscience.
Sincerely yours,
Thomas (another husband, another father, another child of God)
Category: cf_hs, cf_ltr
No comments:
Post a Comment