So, I received an email from an attorney friend of mine implicitly endorsing the so-called “right-to-die.”
It contained a statement from Dr. Peter Goodwin, who helped create Oregon’s right-to-die legislation.
Goodwin made the statement before he decided to end his life last year at 83 because of a terminal condition.”Life is unfair,” Goodwin told The Oregonian, but “Be fulfilled . . . be happy with yourself. Recognize achievements and be proud of them then go on to further achievements. Know what you want to do and do it. Be happy. Know good friends. Be in love.”
Because my friend copied his email to a number of other attorneys, I responded to my friend and all the recipients of his email. My response was, “If I thought that was all there was to life, I would want the right to die too. Fortunately there is more, so I don’t.”
It was a bit snarky, I know, but I was trying to make a point. If the purpose of life is purely selfish, secular and materialistic, then when it is no longer fun, why not check out? If, however, we exist to glorify God, how we respond when the joys of life are outweighed by pain, matters. As I’ve written here before, Jesus’s refusal to accept the wine mixed with gall may very well be a an example of this.
If you are wondering, I got no response to my email. Maybe it had its desired effect. GS