I've Been Busy Lately But Still Have Concerns!

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. Life has been a bit exciting lately and very busy. Still, I do have some thoughts on the world around me.

Whys?

Why? Why is the State of California which is at the height of an economic boom and still unable to balance its budget, spending tens of millions on the research of embryonic cells? There is zero evidence that there is any hope of discovering cures via this method while research into adult stem cells and placenta has already produced credible and exciting advances. There is a reason that the private industry has pulled out of such research. It does not appear to be a method that will yield results and private industry will only put its money into research that has hope of producing profitable results. It is up to government to waste money on lost causes or political agendas.

We were asked to choose between “cures” and morality in the election that allowed these funds to be diverted. The truth is that this is purely a political ploy. Many of us find such research that requires the killing of life to be abhorrent but those who reject any restriction on personal choice needed this victory. It will not yield miracle cures but it does push forth an agenda that sees anything less than a live birth to a wanting family as “a blob”, and not life. All of this when preemies are surviving at a younger and younger age, proving that what was once thought to be a “blob” of flesh was indeed life. There is no reason for public finance of a procedure that so many find inhuman when there is no evidence that it will yield results. This violence against our human nature should stop and we should not be forced to support it through our taxes.

Why? Why do we need a law now being pushed that allows assisted suicide? Why not you might ask, isn’t that a personal choice? Again we are seeking to make this part of our public policy and it is dangerous ground to cover. At a time when we are living longer and longer, government, insurance companies, and sometimes even relatives are beginning to see the aging population in terms of their cost and liabilities. It is dangerous when we fail to see the value of life in itself and measure everyone in the terms of what they contribute or cost. Every life has value. We need to encourage people to live, not cheer when they choose to die.

I remember many, especially the elderly from “the old country”, who lamented that, “God should just take me now.” Family understood that this was a cry of anguish at being unable to contribute to the family the way they were accustomed to and would assure them of how much they were appreciated and loved. Self serving or not, in the future such a spoken woe is likely to bring on a doctor with a needle or pill and congratulations for refusing to be a burden. How sad that economics and self interest is driving our morality to the extent that we have little concern for those responsible for our being alive. How sad that places of healing and care could be turned into places where life is easily discarded. We are better then this.

Why? Why is it that we have become a people convinced that we will live forever while at the same time we become so callous about the lives of others? We live as if the end will never come and at funerals speak of what the person did wrong that resulted in their death. Do we think that we will somehow avoid the “mistake of death?” Are we so tied into controlling our own lives that we must even control the moment it ends? Have we truly become so enamored in ourselves that we have no need for God and refuse to see the world as something larger than our own needs?

It was once said that the true greatness of a society is found in how it treats the weakest of its members. In this we are failing. In some ways it may seem that we have done well in that we have empowered the disabled by mandating easier access and supporting their rights, but that very term illustrates what is wrong. We “empower people.” Does that mean that those unable to wield power have no rights and no place among us? We empower people largely to live independent lives and then say, “Now don’t bother me.” We seem to fear any dependence on others and try to live our own life as an independent being, without need of assistance from others, (Unless it’s the government paying us what we see as our rightful gain.) or needing to extend ourselves to help others. For those who are unable to live independently, we look upon them as less than worthy and we fear ever becoming dependent ourselves.

Why Not? Why not learn to love one another and depend on one another. We are not truly independent. Nobody was born into adult hood and nobody can truly live without others in our lives. This is simply a method of self delusion which seeks to separate ourselves from any pain in our lives. As a result, we can live to far less than our potential and, in many ways, waste the gift of life we have been given. We are not meant to be islands separate from each other. We are called to live in society, to share ourselves with others and to allow others to share themselves with us. That is where we will find the joy and peace we seek. It will not come in miracle cures, self fulfillment, or self promotion.

We are part of something larger than ourselves. Our lives are gifts from God, as are the talents God gives us. We should use them for the betterment of all and with a great respect for our human nature. We need to realize that nobody escapes this life without passing through the gates of death. In the end, what will matter is not what we gained in this life but what we learned and who we are. In the end most of the things we spend our times worrying about will seem trivial and the relationships we ignored will loom desperately large. Let us try to gain the good perspective on life before the end comes. Then it will be too late to repair our mistakes. Today is the time to make changes. Our first task should be to realize that we are not gods, but that God does love us and calls us to be much better than this.

Father Steven Foppiano