Discovering Purpose in Suffering

Sometimes finding God’s purpose in the midst of adversity requires us to make major personal changes over a period of time. At other times, our God-given purpose may be right in front of us. To discover it, we simply need to open our hearts to God’s leading and lift our eyes to opportunities we could easily overlook. FotF's TroubledWith.com

‘Such a Beautiful Passing From This Life’

When Evelyn finally got to look around her apartment and see that she was finally there, she beamed. It was quite clear that she was greatly relieved and delighted to finally be home again. She drifted into a coma that afternoon. That night, it snowed in Missoula. Silently and anonymously, friends, fellow parishioners and an untold number of neighbors came up to Evelyn's door. Without disturbing anyone, they left burning candles on Evelyn's porch, candles that burned brightly in the falling snow. I had the sense that there was a community who wanted to help someone die. Missoula Demonstration Project

Seniors and Computers

The concept of lifelong learning took on full meaning for Esther McGowan when she registered for Intro to PCs for Seniors. “I have grandchildren who use computers, and I wanted to get a feel for them,” says McGowan. Delores McCarthy, another student of the class agrees. “I overheard my ten-year-old grandson discussing computers, and I thought, I’ve got to get on the ball.” Many seniors are signing up for computer classes through local schools, colleges, community centers, and online (Internet) resources. Today’s technology dictates the demand and need for computer knowledge from people of all ages, and senior citizens are determined not to get left behind. Seniors and Computers

Retirement Hobbies

A long list of ideas for the senior in your life! Retirement Hobby Ideas

Perinatal Hospice: Giving Terminally Ill Babies and Their Families an Alternative to Abortion

“Perinatal hospices" are a relatively new but important development whose noble goal it is to support parents during the emotional turmoil that is a part of pregnancy and birth of babies diagnosed with serious, if not necessarily always fatal, disorders. They provide an alternative to the "solution" of abortion, a decision that often only heightens the guilt of parents who may already be blaming themselves for producing an “imperfect" child. The perinatal hospice is really an advance in the care of pregnant women. It is a grueling time for them; they're grieving yet having to care for the baby at the same time. We follow the families' lead, and provide the types of support they need. Experience has also shown that carrying the baby to term helps parents deal with the grief that is inevitable when a child dies. If they abort the baby, the parents will always wonder whether the diagnosis was correct - - whether they murdered a healthy child. But if the baby is born, they are able to hold the child, videotape him, baptize him, and even take him home if he lives for a short time. They know that they did everything they could. They gave God a chance to heal the baby; gave every opportunity for a miracle. Perinatal Hospice Abortion Alternative

An Historical Look Back: Dame Cicely Saunders

“I think very soon the right to die will become the duty to die.”

Dame Cecily Mary Strode Sauders, M.D., Founder of the modern hospice movement, 1918 – 2005

On euthanasia, 60 Minutes, CBS TV 24 Jul 83.

Credited with founding the modern hospice movement; she was the leading figure in the campaign to establish hospices around the world. Guided by her Christian faith and strongly opposed euthanasia, Saunders had a clear view of the role of hospices. "I once asked a man who knew he was dying what he needed above all in those who were caring for him. He said, 'For someone to look as if they are trying to understand me'," she said. "Indeed, it is impossible to understand fully another person, but I never forgot that he did not ask for success but only that someone should care enough to try." Her belief that dying is a phenomenon "as natural as being born," was at the heart of a philosophy that sees death as a process that should be life-affirming and free of pain. In her work toward changing society's attitude to what was regarded as the Western world's last taboo she said, "You matter because you are you, and you matter to the last moment of your life." Dame Cecily Saunders - Hospice Founder

MOVING VIDEO: In the Blink of an Eye

In a time when death is viewed as better than disability, this short video carries a simple truth profoundly stated. It moved me beyond words. It states, in a most eloquent way, what I believe with all my heart: all human life matters. In the Blink of an Eye - Video

Including Children With Disabilities in Life

I sensed that what was unfolding before my eyes is the way God wants life to be—and children were leading the way! They didn’t need behavioral psychologists or "experts" to show them how to include children with disabilities. They just played. I also sensed that adults and experts needed the children’s example more than the other way around. We all do. Including Children With Disabilities in Life

Hospice Care Versus Physician-Assisted Suicide

Fear of abandonment, fear of unbearable suffering, depression and despair are the root causes of suicide in the terminally ill. Hospice care demonstrates that terminally ill patients need not be left to die alone or in unfamiliar, sterile environments, and that pain and other symptoms can be prevented or adequately treated. The choice is ours. To enact legislation allowing physician-assisted suicide is to plunge our society more deeply into the culture of death. It is imperative to defeat such legislation, and in its place to enact legislation which would increase the resources available to bring competent, compassionate health care to patients and families in their homes -- not only in the last six months of their lives as is presently done in hospice programs, but also long term for the chronically ill, the severely disabled and the frail elderly. In doing so we would have to our credit a major step toward transforming our culture of violence and death into a civilization of love and life. Hospice Vs. PAS

Italian Senate Approves End-of-Life Bill That Bans Withdrawing Food and Water From Patients

The Italian Senate approved a bill Thursday to ban caregivers from suspending food and water to any patient — a move that comes after a right-to-die case divided the nation. The woman in that case, Eluana Englaro, died last month after her family cut off her food and water. She had been at the center of a legal battle since entering a vegetative state following a 1992 car accident. The new bill, if approved by the lower house of parliament, would allow people to decide in advance how they want to be treated if they become incapacitated and to state it in a living will. Currently, Italy has no law allowing a living will. Italian End-of-Life Senate Bill

Terry Pratchett (Prolific British Author): I'm Slipping Away a Bit at a Time... And All I Can Do is Watch it Happen

It occurred to me that at one point it was like I had two diseases - one was Alzheimer’s and the other was knowing I had Alzheimer’s. There were times when I thought I’d have been much happier not knowing, just accepting that I’d lost brain cells and one day they’d probably grow back or whatever. Part of the report I’m helping to launch today reveals that 50 per cent of Britons think there is a stigma surrounding dementia. Only 25 per cent think there is still a stigma associated with cancer. The stories in the report - of people being told they were too young or intelligent to have dementia; of neighbors crossing the street and friends abandoning them - are like something from a horror novel. Terry Prachett, Wesley Smith's Comments

Terminally Ill Opt for Suicide by Starvation

To avoid the legal ban on medically assisted dying, doctors are helping patients starve and dehydrate themselves to death. The retired GPs have advised patients who are terminally ill, or suffer from a degenerative disease, that they can refuse food and drink if they are unable or unwilling to travel to a Swiss clinic to receive a fatal dose of medication. They admit the process of starving and dehydrating to death is “horrific,” but say patients have no alternative as long as euthanasia is illegal in Britain. The doctors are members of the campaign group Friends at the End (Fate), which lobbies for the introduction of assisted dying in Britain and gives practical advice on suicide. They warn patients determined to dehydrate themselves to death not to succumb to the temptation to rinse their parched mouths with water or ice, because this merely prolongs the agony. Suicide by Starvation So I guess now we should close all suicide prevention hotlines, because they would interfere with the wishes of suicidal people.

Alison's Story

I am 50 and was born with severe spina bifida. I am completely dependent on my wheelchair for mobility. I am doubly incontinent and I have the lung condition emphysema, which often makes breathing very difficult. I also have osteoporosis (brittle bones), which has caused my spine to collapse, trapping nerves. This causes extreme pain, which is not always controlled, even with morphine. When the pain is at its worst, I cannot move or speak. This can go on for hours, and there is no prospect of relief. Some years ago, a combination of physical and personal problems led me to feel that I couldn't go on living. For ten years, I wanted to die and I made several serious attempts to kill myself. I'll always be grateful to the friends who saved my life (though I wasn’t at the time). And I'm especially thankful there was no possibility of persuading my doctors to legally help me die. Two things helped me realize that, in spite of my many disabilities, life can be sweet. Living with Spina Bifida

What Has the Loss of Your Father Taught You About Ministering to the Dying? By John Piper

To say goodbye to your father on this earth is a massive thing. To have prayed with others who have lost a father or mother is one thing. But to sit by his bed for a week, knowing that he is leaving was very very different. You rehearse your life differently. And your affections are different, because they are all bound up physically, emotionally, and historically with this man. So it wasn't the same. It was profoundly different. Loss of John Piper's Father