Wednesday, March 30, 2005

Lessons From Terri

By Eli Harvey (click "comments" below for article).

3 Comments:

Blogger Mark Moore (Moderator) said...

Moderator's Note: This forum is intended for Arkansas Specific News, but as Eli Harvey points out, this has dominated the news like no other story- and for good reason. That makes it exceptional and an exception.

WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM TERRI SHIAVO
by Eli Harvey

I cannot recall when one person has so dominated the news as has Terri Shiavo. For weeks now, every radio and television newscast has carried her story.

Encased within the tragedy of her physical disabilities are charges and counter-charges. Some say politicians are “for” Terri in the effort to enhance political status or enlarge political bases.

Others counter, saying that politicians are people, too, and we shouldn’t try to read a political agenda into everything they do.

Are there any lessons we can learn from Terri Shiavo? I believe there are.

Lesson One: It’s good to be born into a loving family. Terri’s life story would surely contain times when she had disagreements with her parents. Doubtlessly, her teenage years encompassed parental directives that caused her frustration. We’ve all been there –both as teens and as parents. But, who can look at Terri’s parents today and doubt that they love her dearly?

Not all children have parents like Terri’s. Some dads abandon their children. Some moms do, too. What reassurance, however, to know that when you’re “down-and-out,” mom and dad are there! But, it behooves those of us who’ve had loving parents to be thankful to them and to the Lord who gave us to them.

Lesson Two: Be careful whom you marry. I have no knowledge of how and where Terri and Michael Shiavo met. I don’t even know how long they knew each other before they married. What I do know is that not everyone who says, “I do” means what you think. Or if they mean it at the moment, they can rationalize away that they truly intended it to be “‘till death do us part.”

If Michael Shiavo truly loved Terri, as he claims, he 1) would not have taken up with another woman while Terri was alive. 2) He would have sought out the best medical expertise and stayed with whatever treatments were beneficial to Terri. 3) He would have used the $1 million to bring the love of his life back to normalcy instead of spending it on matters unrelated to Terri.

Lesson Three: There are often tragic ways to become popular. I am not at all impugning the motives of everyone who crowded daily outside Terri Shiavo’s nursing home; but it’s simply true that a lot of people like to see themselves on television or read their names in the paper.

A man I knew was once approached by a young lad who proudly announced, “Sir, I got my name in the paper.” When the man asked for what reason, the boy replied, “My brother died.”

Lesson Four: When life fades, it’s vital to be prepared. Life is both fragile and precious. How tragic it is that we have to come so close to losing it for it to be recognized for what it is. I am personally confident that Terri Shiavo can hear. How much she can mentally absorb and analyze, God only knows. I only know that it’s important to trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior when we are in full control of our mental faculties. Whether Terri Shiavo has trusted Jesus, the Lord alone knows.

But, she is teaching some lessons. Whether we learn them, remains to be seen.

7:31 PM, March 30, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well said, Mr. Harvey!

10:41 PM, March 31, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is very interesting site... » »

8:49 AM, March 01, 2007  

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