"I said to the doctor as I watched my father slowly slipping away, 'we have more compassion for dying animals'." (anonymous)
I read of this man's experience of the withdrawal of life support from his father who was, brain dead according to his story. He conveyed his anguish over the long drawn out days as he slowly watched his father starve to death.
I sympathize and often empathize with the suffering of others; yet, I have a hard time with the idea that euthanizing a dog shares some form of equality with ending a persons life to end suffering. I struggle with that comparison because humans are moral beings in a way that other animal life are not moral beings.
There have been a plethora of television shows lately that point to pain and suffering. Modern media is quick to cover human Suffering in all its forms. In fact there isn't a place in the world that the Human Condition is not suffering. The argument today is where or is there nobility and compassion in suffering? Or can a person die with dignity and compassion if they are allowed to suffer unto certain death?
I think the Father and Christ has something to say about suffering. Did the Father suffer in some way (not physically as in patripassionism) as he watched his Son suffer on the cross? Christ accordingly chose a path of suffering from the Incarnation to the Passion and Crucifixion. He chose suffering because it ultimately had meaning and purpose.
I do believe that the Christian religion teaches us not to masochistically seek suffering for Christ. But we know when suffering comes to us due to our faith we endure it for the sake of Christ. That is easier if I am the sufferer, but being on the outside and watching my children or loved one suffer is more difficult. That's why I'm inclined to consider the emotions or feelings of the Father are equally as important to our faith as the physical suffering of Christ. Doesn't it say, "for God [the Father] so loved the world that he gave his Son... "
It is not the suffering of our loved ones that is so difficult for us. Rather it is our compassion, our suffering with them, and their pain that is so difficult for us to handle. As more people push for the "dignity of ending life early" with a desire to expedite the pain of a loved one, isn't it more truthful to say that our motivation is to relieve or end our own suffering with them? At first I thought this was selfishness. But it's not selfish to want to end another's suffering.
It's natural to want to end our suffering and the suffering of those we love. But it is Godly to trust in God's timing as to when that suffering should end.
The Christian faith does have an immutable response to suffering. It is to praise God through it. It is to cling to God more than we cling to self whether we are the sufferer or the one standing next to him.
