Friday, May 25, 2007

DEATH, WHERE IS THY STING?

The past few days at work has been challenging.....i see death all around me....yes, it is not something new. It is the experience of working in a setting where people are terminally ill....even those who are considered young....and it hits me between the eyes..... the way people deal with death.
Those who are sick and yet supposed in the prime of their lives...struggle with the meaning of disease...and their mortality.......those who are unfortunate enough to land in the terminal stages where everything in their body falls apart, are unable to comprehend nor accept the final days of their lives.......whilst those who are octogenarians accept their mortality but feel guilty for being a burden to their families - in terms of time and finances spent.
Then, there are those, who are left behind by family members who have passed on....the guilt in them for not doing more, or not being with them at the point of death......for others, it is anger that is expressed that the deceased was not given a second chance at life....and they implore the doctors to do their best at prolonging the life of loved ones, despite the knowledge that their existence in that state which they are in would not have any meaning. Besides, who are we (ie doctors) to play God?!?

Am i a pessimist?

It's hard not to be in an environment like this.

Yet, the one thing that stands out the most for me is the fact that these people do not know Jesus - the lover and redeemer of my soul. How sad.

I pray everyday...as I past by these patients and their family - that they will find Christ, and the hope that we have in Him. That death is not the end because we who believe in Him will have everlasting life. And those that we leave behind have the comfort and assurance that we will meet again - in heaven!

What hope! What joy! What peace!

Only in Christ Jesus can we say - death, where is thy sting?

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