Believe There's Something More

A commentary article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch March 24, 2005 by Charles E. Bouchard, a Catholic Dominican friar.

For Christians, the Easter season is an ironic mix. The stark solemnity of Good Friday and its bare wooden cross contrast with the light, music and full-throated “Alleluia” of Easter Sunday. Like no other season of the year, it reminds us of both the pain of human existence and its glorious possibility.
Easter may be a Christian feast, but it is also a reflection of the human condition. It expresses the human longing for a full view of the spiritual fulfillment we usually only glimpse.
Generations of Catholics who studied the Baltimore Catechism recall question No. 6: “Why did God make me?” The answer, as every grade-school child knew: “To know Him, love Him and serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.” This makes two important points:

To know, love and serve in this world

The first point is that physical life is the means by which we know and love God (and our neighbor). This life is lived out in relationship with those we love. In other words, our ability to relate with others is central to the purpose of life.

And be happy in the next

The second point is that, as important as this physical life is, it’s not the ultimate reason for which we were created. Christians believe that in the last analysis, we were created to be with God. Our physical lives are a prelude, a confused and clumsy dress rehearsal, a reception that prepares us for the ultimate banquet. This means that death is not to be feared as the end, but rather embraced as the final step in a process of life.
For most of us, the transition from this life to the next will be relatively peaceful and quick. We used to call this “a happy death,” a moment of equanimity when we knew we had completed our earthly tasks and were now about to see them brought to perfection. For others, that passage is painful, traumatic and prolonged. This is especially true when we – or those around us – refuse to acknowledge the real purpose of life and instead cling desperately to physical life as though there were nothing else.
In his book “The Troubled Dream of Life: In Search of Peaceful Death,” ethicist Daniel Callahan says there is an alternative view: “it is our capacity to learn how to accept what life puts before us, to be open to that which we cannot control, and to embrace the virtues of courage and endurance in the face of evil.” The problem with a life dedicated to control and fear, he says, “is that no degree of vigilance can ever be sufficient to assure its success.”
Is it possible that removal of Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube is euthanasia? Yes, but it is more likely that it is the legitimate withdrawal of a medical intervention that no longer serves her spiritual or medical good.
Is it possible that Congress acted in her best interests when it permitted yet another legal review - this time, in the federal courts – of the case? Yes, but it is more likely that they are really fighting another battle or, worse, just trying to get re-elected.
Is it possible that Schiavo would want to be maintained in this medical and spiritual limbo for more than 15 years? Yes, but it is more likely that as a Christian she would forgo the very limited benefits of tube feeding and embrace God’s promise of eternal life with hope.
For Christians, Easter is an invitation to walk through death, to embrace it, to meditate upon it and then, finally, to emerge on the other side, triumphant. Christian or not, all of us must take the same journey, over and over again. We must feel the real pain of human existence, indulge the hope of consolation and dare to believe there is something more. My hope is that Terri Schiavo, her family and her friends will make that journey, too.

[Back to Home]