THE ZIG OF LIFE, THE ZAG OF DEATH AND BACK AGAIN ~ 5 ~ Part 1

 

 No human being exists apart from the entire human family. True, many people experience rejection, isolation from a close relationship with family or friends, and in their pain have no sense of being beloved, much less of belonging. Nonetheless we all exist within the human family, a species unlike any other on earth, for we alone have been created in the image and likeness of God, we alone are endowed with an immortal soul, which itself gives form to the body, and is the actual “I” of our being, thus while the body does die the “I” does not.

Communication, the ability by word, gesture, to communicate with at least one other human being throughout the day, beyond merely, for example, asking for a coffee in the coffee shop, is critical to alleviate the isolation and loneliness of living without the intimacy of love, of being of some import to another human being.

Besides hobbling our emotional, intellectual, physical health, loneliness impedes spiritual development as well.

How essential we learn to say a heartfelt “Hello”, or at the very least smile, when encountering someone we don’t necessarily know while walking, on the bus, at the kiss of peace during Holy Mass. Such simple gestures can restore to isolated persons among our brothers and sisters a renewed sense of dignity, of communality within the human family.

Deliberately isolating another human being with racist or other discriminatory attitudes, most egregious when we do that to spouse, child, sibling, parent because we have taken some offence, is a serious sin against the Great Commandment. Taken to its extreme history shows us the cost in domestic violence, divorce, alienation within relationships, and on the universal scale the cost in human lives through the infamous lynching of Blacks in the US South, the deliberate starvation of Ukrainians by Stalin, the death camps of the Nazis, the various genocides throughout history, which continue in our own day with attacks on the Uighurs by China and the Rohingya by Myanmar.

This Lent we should look deep in our own hearts and be honest if we are isolating anyone, or group of people, by any means, if so then we are bringing our gift to the altar with hearts that are hardened and blackened by failure to love as Jesus loves.

All this is on my heart because I live in a country which, under the evil euphemism of assisted dying, has extended the law to include the right of the mentally ill to choose self-murder with the help of someone else.

The truth is anyone, medical professional or not, who takes part in abortion or so-called euthanasia, while they may not be violating human law, are violating divine law and therefore are morally guilty of the mortal sins of murder, of the refusal to recognize that the giving and taking of life is God’s alone, hence the collective arrogance of those who claim to care for the mother bearing an unwanted child, for those who suffer serious illness. If such proponents of

death really cared, truly loved Christ in others, then they we do everything to support the expectant mother, assuring care and a loving home for the child once born, would dedicate themselves to assuring palliative/hospice care for the suffering.

I should note the above preamble was not on any of the scraps of paper on which I outlined this chapter! My notes were to be sure in what follows I did not fall into the infamous TMI [too much information swamp] rather that I adhere to what re-affirms all is grace and as Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan has written:…….no less essential is the word, to share one’s own spiritual experience with others in simplicity. [1]

Each human being is a mystery. Mystery to ourselves, to others, but not to our Loving Father, not to Jesus our Redeemer, not to the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, sanctifying us and making of us real persons as “I” child of God.

We will only fully know the “I” of self, the “you” of other when divested with the unresurrected body we now occupy, damaged by our own sins and those committed against us, damaged in our emotions, memories, intellect, expectations, yes, only when we are vested with resurrection and can finally see self and others clearly.

The heart is the dwelling-place where I am, where I live; according to the Semitic or Biblical expression, the heart is the place "to which I withdraw." The heart is our hidden center, beyond the grasp of our reason and of others; only the Spirit of God can fathom the human heart and know it fully. The heart is the place of decision, deeper than our psychic drives. It is the place of truth, where we choose life or death. It is the place of encounter, because as image of God we live in relation: it is the place of covenant. [2]

The Fathers of the Desert teach that if we wish to truly pray, truly be in communication with the Most Holy Trinity, indeed if we seek a proper understanding of self, that we might love ourselves truthfully without ego, and thus be real loving and humble servants of others, then we should sit quietly, tilt our heads down until our chin touches our chest, our heart, for the heart is a garden enclosed where we stroll, beloved with our Divine Lover, listening to Him and being listened to.

I wonder if children these days, as I did as a child, still take a flashlight, turn it on, shine it through their palms and be amazed how light penetrates?

Today we have medical technology that penetrates the body in various ways to detect tumors and other problems, or to show that none are present.

Divine love penetrates the heart; indeed, the Holy Spirit reads our heart: Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart. [Heb.412]

Human love penetrates as well, though differently to be sure. Also, there are varying degrees of human love, for the baptized our capacity and willingness to love is rooted in grace and should be totally selfless for we are loving Christ in other. Non Christians also love other, humanly, authentically.

I have no idea of the roots of the love I experienced almost a year ago from the doctors, nurses and other caregivers when I was seriously ill, indeed almost died, but their care was more than professionalism, it was love and when, these days with most hospitals on lockdowns, part of the pain for those in hospital is isolation from those we love and who love us, that love from care-givers is itself an expression of love: love that is critical to the healing process.

When I was growing up, and indeed well into my twenties, there was no universal medical care in this country. Most of the industrialized countries of the world, irrespective of their being democratic or not, have universal medical coverage, with one glaring exception, oddly the richest country in the world!

Universal medical care is a form of love, not by the government per se, rather by those politicians who cared enough to get the needed legislation passed. However, it is the hearts and skills of doctors, nurses and others who make the health care system real.

Because I grew up before universal health care I still have a bad habit of hesitating before going to the doctor, much less calling for an ambulance. By grace my experience last year has pretty well healed that wound.

So, one evening I was just about to fall asleep after praying as usual when I became violently ill and in more excruciating pain than even when decades ago I had passed kidney stones.

Honestly, I have no clear memory of calling 911, having dressed and made my way to the lobby of this old building, as it does not have a buzzer system, so I guess I was unsure the ambulance crew would get in, but bless the woman who answered 911 for she assured me an ambulance was on the way and she would stay on the line and chat with me until they got here.

I don’t remember the EMTs arriving, just an awareness of being in the ambulance on oxygen and an IV. In this metropolitan area there is a system where the more severe the case, then the ambulance is sent to whatever hospital in the area has the shortest wait time for admission. I discovered several days later I was in hospital in a neighbouring city, still part of the metropolitan area.

God’s love does not impose burdens upon us that we cannot carry, nor make demands of us that we cannot fulfill. For whatever He asks of us, He provides the help that is needed…..Let us go forth full of trust in Christ. He will accompany us as we journey toward the goal that He alone knows. [3]

[1] TESTIMONY OF HOPE; Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan; pp. 163, 164; Pauline Books, 2000; italics mine

[2] Catechism of the Catholic Church, para. 2563 https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P8Z.HTM

[3] RISE, LET US BE ON OUR WAY, Pope John Paul II, pp. 215, 216; Warner Books, 2004; italics are mine.

© 2021 Fr. Arthur Joseph