End of Summer, End of Life
September 7, 2009
Labor Day always has this melancholy feeling-end of summer and all that-and there is something about it I find comforting and calming even with its twinge of sadness. I hope the end of this summer brings an end to all the brouhaha about health care reform which has produced too much heat and very little light. It's time to calm down the fear-mongers and have a serious conversation about health care in this country. I don't have a lot of answers, but I do have some convictions.
For one thing, I think we need to drop the silly rhetoric about "death panels" and encourage doctors and patients to talk about end-of-life care. The Free Press is running a series of articles about the questions many families have already faced-when do you say, "Enough"? When do you decide that just because a test or treatment is available doesn't mean it's appropriate? Where does cost enter into the equation? In short, how do we prepare for what the ancients called "a good death"?
Twenty-nine years ago this summer, my Dad made a decision. He was only 59 years old. The doctors wanted to run more tests, do more treatments, but the best they could offer was a few more months. He decided to go home and make the most of the time he had left. I have a copy of the letter where the doctor reluctantly agreed. He died two months later. Too young, gone too soon, but a good death.
I think part of our reluctance to talk about end-of-life is our reluctance to talk about death. One of the prayers in our "Service of Death and Resurrection" says "We confess to thee our slowness to accept death as a part of life, our reluctance to commit to thee those whom we love." But the honest truth is that none of us are going to get out of this life alive.
The death rate is about the same as it's always been-one per person. And our denial to think seriously about death is in fact a denial of our faith in the resurrection and eternal life. As Christians we face death with hope and as a nation, I hope we can include end-of-life planning in any heath care reform.
Pretty somber "Monday Memo" for a holiday, but maybe the end of summer is a good time to talk about the end of life.
Jack Harnish
