What is Life?

There seems to be a clear distinction between life and death, but maybe it’s not as black and white as we all believe. There may be more that we need to consider when thinking about the word “life.” Is life just a heartbeat, or is there a whole new realm of life that we need to consider in today’s day in age? An age where a loved one can be kept alive by an armada of support machines that breath for him, in turn keeping his heart pumping against his will, if he even has any will left.

If a patient lies in a hospital bed completely unresponsive, he isn’t alive, he’s just there. An image of the man he was before, the man who lies in that bed was once able to feel joy, sorrow, fear, and any other emotion conceivable. The man who could also share memories of family gatherings, his eldest son’s wedding, the birth of his first grandchild, and the man who could smile, embrace his loved ones, and crack jokes. Having the capacity to feel, touch, experience, that is what life is. Imagine life without these things, what is it then? It’s not anything worth being a part of.  Our loved one laying on that bed isn’t who he was before he fell into this condition, he’s just there to fool our eyes into believing he is still capable of our naive determination of life.

More and more people coming into the latter stages of their life are deciding that their wish is to let their life end naturally, and when God wills it. These are the people who truly understand what life is. Those who can look their son, daughter, wife, or husband in the eye and say “I have come to terms with death and I want to accept it with dignity when my time comes. Do not allow me to be kept breathing by a machine.” It’s those people who recognize how precious life is, and do their best to allow each day to be full of fun, love, compassion, and learning.