Check CNN to read about a story of a woman that is bringing the subject of Euthanasia to the front page of newspapers in France.
What do you guys think of this story? What is the right thing to do here in a case like this? Where is God in this story?
Its hard to digest a story like that. the pain, the suffering, the questioning. I think whats starting to help me process the emotional side of stories like Chantals is Dan Allenders and Tremper Longmans book, ‘the cry of the soul’. Luis and I are reading it now, and its been an eye opening read. The premise of the book is how our emotions reveal our deepest questions about God. The authors journey through the psalms to reveal how the vast array of human emotion was not only experienced by the psalmsist but unashmedly offered worship in every emotional state including anger, sorrow and rage. Living is the dark part of our stories like Chantals can be invitations to wrestle with the living God to explore and discover His odd and suprising character.
What a difficult place to be…there are really two questions raised by the story. Is suicide Chantal’s only or best option? Should the law be altered to allow her doctors to help her commit suicide? I think the answer to the first question determines the answer to the second.
While no one can deny the enormity of her suffering, the thing she is most concerned about – dying with dignity – is the thing that suicide is least likely to accomplish. Dying with dignity looks like what Jesus did – “into your hands I commit my spirit” – that is, trusting God with your life to the very end. Assisted suicide isn’t dying with dignity – it’s submitting to hopelessness. Changing the law to help you do something that is contrary to the divine law is not the place of the state.
I am not immune to the power of Chantal’s cry that she be allowed to end her suffering. But ultimately, I believe Christians have a different worldview, one that says that Chantal’s life belongs not to her, but to God. If she will entrust what He has given her back into His hands, then I am fully convinced she will die with dignity and peace and go on to everlasting life.
Bravo, John!