WHAT MATTERS IN THE END

I was so impressed with Facebook comments by my friend Steve Merki, I asked permission to post them on this blog. Lean in.

"In his book, "Being Mortal," author and physician Atul Gawande addresses end of life issues and how medicine deals with them. Gawande confesses that medicine's approach has been far too narrow. "Medical professionals concentrate on repair of health, not sustenance of the soul. Yet -- and this is the painful paradox -- we have decided that they should be the ones who largely define how we live in our waning days. For more than half a century now, we have treated the trials of sickness, aging and mortality as medical concerns. It's been an experiment in social engineering, putting our fates in the hands of people valued more for their technical prowess than for their understanding of human needs.

Dr. Gawande has some wonderful insights and suggestions as to how this situation can be improved. But reading his book confirmed some things for me. In my battle with ALS, I've been blessed with some of the most gifted and compassionate medical professionals I've ever encountered. However, there is no denying the fact that, at present, they can only manage the disease at best. The tendency for both patients and doctors is to become consumed with finding a cure. Certainly that is a noble goal and one that is worth the investment of effort and resources. But when that goal becomes the only objective, things can become distorted. We can begin to sacrifice the things that make life meaningful in whatever time we have left.

In my devotional reading a couple of weeks ago, I came again to the apostle Paul's description of mortality in 2 Corinthians 4 and 5. It's clear that, for him, mortality and immortality are not mutually exclusive. We are both mortal and immortal at the same time. "We always carry around in our bodies the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body . . . . Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

In the verses that follow, Paul makes it clear that his ultimate objective was not to hang on to his mortal life at all costs. He longed, instead, that "what is mortal may be swallowed up by life." This did not mean that Paul had given up on this life. Not at all! His loose hold on this life freed and empowered him. His vision was clear, not distorted by a fixation on hanging on to something that was inevitably going to pass away, So he could expend himself in pursuit of things that had eternal significance.

I will do everything I can to help in finding a cure for ALS. But, in the end, there are other things that are at least as important and my goal is to pursue those things."

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To view a previous post on this blog by Steve Merki, please click HERE.