Schiavo and Eternal Destiny

There has been a lot of talk the past couple of weeks about the Terri Schiavo case. I know that I have had some dissonant views about how we, as Christians, should react to the case. But ultimately I hate the fact that this is known as the Schiavo case. What about Terri? This is the question that has been haunting me all week. The conservative stance says that we should err on the side of life, which I completely agree with - it's just that I wonder if we need to view life in a bigger sense. Maybe Terri is already dead and the longer we keep her on earth the longer she'll be dead until she is allowed to enter eternal life. I am making a huge assumption that Terri is a Christian and thus she has been saved, otherwise this whole discussion is irrelevant and not worth your time. Jesus came to give us life and life more abundantly - I wonder if Terri's abundant life is waiting for us to let her go. I know that given my choice of ways to die, starving to death would not be my first choice (if you were to ask I'd probably want to be shot in the head, but that's another thing), so ultimately the way that Terri is physically dying is horrible and I acknowledge that. Maybe in her physical death she will be released into true spiritual life - god that sounds like platonic philosophy, what is wrong with me. I wonder if maybe Terri's perfected body is waiting for us to let her physical - imperfect - body to die.

The obvious reaction will be what kind of precedent are we setting by choosing for Terri to die or choosing to kill her (I obviously don't think we're killing her, though she will die). There is a precedent being set here, that those closest to us - our next of kin - can make the choice of whether or not to keep us alive, if we haven't stated so in legal form. But those questions can go on and on - questions like who is our next of kin and which of them can actually decide what we would want. The other precedent that is being set here, which scares me more than if my wife would choose to let me die or not, is that the government is actually getting in on the action. This is a personal issue to be dealt with between the family. Yes, the family brought it to court and the legal system decided that it was Michael's choice to make. Shouldn't it have been done then - when the courts on ever level decided that it was Michael's choice to make. Don't get me wrong, I'm a republican and huge Bush supporter, but I think that they should butt out. Let the Michael decide, because he is who the courts have agreed, the one who has the choice. Let him deal with the eternal consequences of his (very often bad) choices. Keep political precedent out of it; because it does scare me that some politicians, whom I have never met, can override my wife, who knows me very well, when it comes to my well being.

But you see, there it is again the Schiavo case and we've forgotten all about Terri. Is she the least of these? Maybe - maybe not, but does God care about her beyond the here and now? Absolutely YES. Have I come up with an answer to the questions surrounding Terri? No, but I hope that some of you have stopped to think about the whole situation and Terri in particular as a result of this post. If you want to be provoked some more, check out this article at Relevant Magazine.