Balance

I’ve written about this before, but it came up again today. I visited an older church member who is living in an ‘extended care’ facility, a step beyond a nursing home, meaning the staff interacts more often with the resident. At least, they are supposed to. The place was noisy, cluttered and smelled bad. The residents live two to a room. It truly is an awkward situation at best. She is well on up in her years and I was struck by the difficult situation that she was now facing. Modern medicine and technology had allowed her to live more years, but those years have not been ‘good’ years, they have been years spent going in and out of hospitals and nursing care facilities. The quality of life has declined, while the quantity of years has increased. It leaves me wondering, ‘Is it truly worth it?’ I see people like this more than I would like and I am always plagued by the same question. Have we gotten ahead of ourselves with technology and medicine? Obviously, the desire to prolong life has to be due to the fact that we value life above all else. I recently heard a line on a radio advertisement. It said, “And nothing is more important than life.” Is that true? As a Christian, as one who is trying to follow Jesus and live into his teachings, I want to finish that line by saying, “Nothing is more important than life in Christ.” Without Christ, this life is all we have and personally, I believe God is calling us to more. Don’t get me wrong, I am not being fatalistic or anything, I do not want to die any more than the next person. But death is not the end. I’ve been working through Philippians recently and I am drawn to Paul’s line, “For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain.” Dying is more Christ. That’s something to be excited about, even if it is a little scary. But we fear death so much that we are doing anything and everything to prolong life, even if the quality of life is poor, thanks to the advancements in technology and medicine.

Now, to be sure, there is a balance with everything. Thanks to the advancement in technology and medicine, I was able to see an absolutely amazing picture of my son this morning. While I continue to ponder life, let me introduce you to Isaac Hamilton Gray. (Around the 50 second mark, it shifts to 4-D imaging. It will blow your mind.) He is not due until December 5th, but yet we are able to see some really cool pictures. I am thankful for the ways technology and medicine make our lives amazing, but want to make sure that our lives remain amazing, rather than just adding on some years.