Life Support

I am a hospital chaplain. I love my job but I will admit that it has some really tough days. Some of the toughest days are the ones where I see hope ceased. There will be a family who is hoping for the miraculous turn-around of a family member who is on a ventilator, or life support. They have hoped that the patient would be able to breath on their own but after many unsuccessful attempts, the patient is not able to be weaned, or come off of the life support machine. They then have to make the decision to have a tracheotomy placed in the patient (permanent life support) or allow the patient to die a natural death and remove the life support. Those days are tough because it has such a spiritual component that we all can relate to.

While we may not all have to make a decision to sustain one's life by hope and artificial means, we all can relate to holding on to hope of a situation in our lives turning around for the better. We have experienced a relationship (personal or professional) that is essentially dying (or even dead) and we hold on hoping for it to "live" or "live again". And then eventually, we will have to decide to remove the life support-all those things we are doing to sustain the "alive-ness" of the relationship and allow for it to die. Unfortunately, like some families, we decide to keep relationship "alive" by artificial means until eventually it dies on its own. For example, a job that we know has died but we will continue to put all our energy into it with no seemingly beneficial results. Same goes for a friendship, romantic relationship or business. Sometimes, we must discontinue the life support in order for their to be comfort and peace.

The Death of a thing is not easy. It requires true assessment of the situation and understanding of the purpose and goals of whatever it is we are holding on to. Sometimes something will die on its own, but more likely than not we are given the opportunity to discontinue life support. Ask yourself, am I continuing unnecessary suffering because I have reasonable hope or is it because I fear the outcome removable of the "life support" will bring? Whatever the answer you receive allow it become real in your life and I pray you have the strength that I didn't have to remove the "life support". 

Blessings,
Aurellia

Photograph by Jennifer Enright (c)