Let This One Live?
A good week at our cabin in Takayama. I finally got the tin on the new veranda roof, with help from Hans, our Swiss short-termer. Then ,on the way home, a commitment I wasn't looking forward to- a visit with the son of the woman who helped Laurie with housework when we were in language school in Sapporo, 25 years ago. He was 7 at the time, and handicapped with cereberal palsy.
We were distressed at the time to learn that his mother planned to abort her second pregnancy, as she and her husband feared having another handicapped child. But, being handicapped ourselves (almost non-existant Japanese language ability), we could only stand by and watch it happen.
Now, 25 years later, what would we find life to be for her first child? She told us only that he wanted us to visit him on our way home. He said he would meet us at the interchange in Morioka, halfway home. His speech was slurred, and hard to understand. Who was taking him to meet us? Did he live in a home? How easy would it be to communicate?
Groundless fears. Kouji met us in his own car, guided us to his apartment (owned by his employers, the power company for northern Honshu), and proceeded to tell us about his younger sister and brother (both normal), his skiing, and especially his new hobby: scuba diving with his friends.
There are various levels of handicaps, but it is hard to guess how a person will turn out. Trying to predict and forestall potential problems through abortion is beyond our powers.
And, behind this attitude is problem of perception; what, exactly, is a handicap? We are all handicapped, but most handicaps don't show on the outside. Selfishness, materialism, greed, envy, sloth- the things that make us unwilling to "bother" with the physically handicapped; the things that made me reluctant to meet Kouji- are crippling defects. God has put the visibly handicapped here on earth to remind us of our own unseen handicaps, to test our reactions, and to teach us things we need to know but could not otherwise learn; things like compassion, patience, trust and humility. Their existence is not a flawed event or a mistake. It is planned by God, and it is important to all of us.
In the wake of the Schiavo case, we all need to rethink our value system. Who's life is "worth living"? And, who decides?
Terry Schiavo's family faced tremendous pressures, emotional and financial. I cannot guess how I would react were I in their shoes. I certainly don't mean to imply I have confidence that I would behave "nobly" in the same circumstances. Still, having seen results of some of the polls taken, there is another I would like to see- beneath a picture of Mr. Schiavo, a question: Would you want this man as your legal guardian? Yes or no?
I doubt there would be many yeses.
We were distressed at the time to learn that his mother planned to abort her second pregnancy, as she and her husband feared having another handicapped child. But, being handicapped ourselves (almost non-existant Japanese language ability), we could only stand by and watch it happen.
Now, 25 years later, what would we find life to be for her first child? She told us only that he wanted us to visit him on our way home. He said he would meet us at the interchange in Morioka, halfway home. His speech was slurred, and hard to understand. Who was taking him to meet us? Did he live in a home? How easy would it be to communicate?
Groundless fears. Kouji met us in his own car, guided us to his apartment (owned by his employers, the power company for northern Honshu), and proceeded to tell us about his younger sister and brother (both normal), his skiing, and especially his new hobby: scuba diving with his friends.
There are various levels of handicaps, but it is hard to guess how a person will turn out. Trying to predict and forestall potential problems through abortion is beyond our powers.
And, behind this attitude is problem of perception; what, exactly, is a handicap? We are all handicapped, but most handicaps don't show on the outside. Selfishness, materialism, greed, envy, sloth- the things that make us unwilling to "bother" with the physically handicapped; the things that made me reluctant to meet Kouji- are crippling defects. God has put the visibly handicapped here on earth to remind us of our own unseen handicaps, to test our reactions, and to teach us things we need to know but could not otherwise learn; things like compassion, patience, trust and humility. Their existence is not a flawed event or a mistake. It is planned by God, and it is important to all of us.
In the wake of the Schiavo case, we all need to rethink our value system. Who's life is "worth living"? And, who decides?
Terry Schiavo's family faced tremendous pressures, emotional and financial. I cannot guess how I would react were I in their shoes. I certainly don't mean to imply I have confidence that I would behave "nobly" in the same circumstances. Still, having seen results of some of the polls taken, there is another I would like to see- beneath a picture of Mr. Schiavo, a question: Would you want this man as your legal guardian? Yes or no?
I doubt there would be many yeses.
posted by John Elliot | 10:48 AM
3 Comments:
John, thanks for saying so effectively what multitudes of us are thinking. The presumption that any human (let alone a deadbeat absentee husband) has the right to decide whether another person's life is worth living is not just a slippery slope but a downright slimy one. May God have mercy on the mercy killers - and keep us from adopting their brand of "compassion".
In Christ,
Dan Friesen
At first I was surprised that someone with as obscure a relationship with our family as Kouji would be interested in meeting up with you. I don't even remember him, although I remember his mother. After pondering a while on it, though, I began to imagine how important it must be to him to "show them"; to show all those people who doubted or who might have doubted. After all, he has not only "made it," but it sounds like he's enjoying much more interesting things than most people.
What a tragedy to think of aborting a child who might not be 'perfect'.
God tells us that we will never be given a burden beyond our stength to carry it and so any child who is sent to us may be a trial at times but, if we are honest with ourselves, they will teach us more than we teach them.
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