In the movie, Grumpy Old Men, there is a scene where one of the men in town has died. More than one person is told about the death, and they all had the same reaction. I don’t remember the name of the character that died, but I remember that his death was sudden. It may have been a massive heart attack or a stroke, but the death was close to instantaneous.

One character in the movie told another that the person had dropped dead. The person who was told of the death said, “That lucky _____________.” Later another person was told and he said exactly the same words.

Most people seem to hope for an end that does not involve suffering through a long drawn out illness. Many people express a desire to escape a prolonged period of suffering, and many people express a desire to not be a burden on others.

Unless people take their own lives, or talk someone into doing that for them, people have very little to say about what their last days will be like. We do not control our birth, and in most circumstances we do not control our death.

Babies require considerable care. They need to be fed, have their diapers changed, held, bathed, and they do not contribute much to their own care. People usually do not consider them a burden. People generally celebrate their arrival. Traditionally, fathers passed out cigars to celebrate the arrival of a new baby.

Sometimes people who reach old age are no longer able to care for themselves. We do not celebrate that stage. We probably don’t celebrate because we know that they often experience suffering at that time. But I also think that our society places a higher value on the infant than we place on the aged. Both are valuable to God. Neither ought to be considered a burden. Both stages are simply a part of our life cycle.

If we express the desire to not be a burden to others, we are reinforcing a view that is prevalent in our society. The view is that the aged are of no value. I believe that view is wrong and we ought to be more careful about the things that we say.

I recently read a book titled, “East of the Mountains”. The book is about a doctor who has cancer. He considers ending his own life, to avoid suffering, and ultimately decides against it.

At one point, another character in the book tells him that his children will learn to be compassionate by helping him through the period of suffering that will accompany the end of his life. She could be right about that.

Another book that I read a few years ago was titled, “Tuesdays with Morrie”. That book is about a man named Morrie, facing the end of his life. He had a chronic disease that made his death a slow process filled with pain.

A sports writer met with Morrie every Tuesday for about the last year of his life. In that time, Morrie had a profound impact on the sports writer’s life. Morrie required more care with each passing week. Was he a burden? He was an inspiration.

I’m sure someone worked very hard providing Morrie with the type of care he needed, but to say he was a burden would be to not recognize the value of Morrie as a person at the end of his life.

I don’t really want to suffer at the end of my life. I don’t look forward to being a person who requires constant care and lives with constant pain. Maybe I even hope that God spares me from that type of end.

More than that, I hope that God helps me through the last days of my life. I hope that God will provide me with strength, courage, and most of all, an abundance of faith.

I hope that others will view me as a person of value until my final hour, and that I will always view others as people of value no matter what stage of life they have reached.

May God bless each and every one of you now and always, even to the very end of your days.

Sincerely,

Pastor Birk