ON SUFFERING
It has been two months now since I had to put one of my dogs, Ginger, to sleep.She wasn't that old - about eight - and she was just a big mutt, but I loved that dog. Not like a person, but still she had been part of our family for so long. There was a simplicity in her love and now there is a hole in my heart that she used to occupy.
She suffered from seizures and, despite medication, one Friday morning she began experiencing a series of seizures which did not stop. Rather than have her continue to suffer needlessly, I took her life.
If she was a human being, I would have gone to extraordinary efforts to save her. But she was only a dog, not human. And yet, through her death I had an opportunity to consider the value of human life. I've watched people suffer, some with dignity and strength, some without. Too often people say we should terminate the life of the sick and the elderly to ease their suffering, but they are not dogs. God's grace, and his mercy, cannot be dismissed prematurely. And during this season of Lent, as we approach Holy Week and the Passion of Jesus, it is worth our while to realize that God did not cut Jesus' suffering short, because as humans our suffering isn't needless. It is an opportunity for God's grace and, while we may never know in this life the whys associated with the suffering, we can be sure that God is there with us, just as He was with His son.
Originally posted on March 17, 2010
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