Features - Health

There are some people who want to live forever, and some who’d prefer to pick a number. Right now, mine is 90… but ask me again when I’m 89!  There is one thing on which we all would agree— everyone wants to live a longer, healthier life.

Science has accommodated us, up to a point. Miracle drugs, life-saving operations, titanium hips and knees are just a few of the improvements we’ve seen in our lifetimes.  But, there is a dark side to medical advances and an alarming trend, which NY Times columnist David Brooks explains:

“We have the illusion that through advances in medical research, we are in the process of eradicating deadly diseases…. Most of us will still suffer from chronic diseases for years near the end of life, and then die slowly.”

Is this what our Creator has planned: years of suffering in a nursing home, at exorbitant cost to our families and us? While it’s essential to be grateful for the good health we enjoy, we must prepare ourselves, through soul-searching prayer, to accept graciously the conditions of our ever-human body.

- Susan Diamond

Wholeness

Thank You for this day of exhaling,
of unprecedented blessing
and finally relief.

This is the day the wound started healing.
The moment the rift began to mend.
The storm has passed and we still have each other.

Today is a day of celebration.
My prayers have been answered and my health is restored.
The ones I love have gathered around me
and You have granted me the gift of renewal.
Cultivate in me a light spirit and a joyful heart
so I may glory in the blessings You've bestowed.

-Ruth Williams

"AGREE OR DISAGREE?"