The Works of God

I read every comment that is posted.  Though I don’t respond to every one, I am grateful for the time people spend in commenting.

And that was particularly true this past week, when I posted on a Daily Mail article.

A brother and sister in Christ who are involved in healthcare in the UK posted comments challenging my assertions based on their actual experiences.

First a portion of the comments from Andrew:

I am a Doctor in the UK. I am also passionately in love with Jesus.

The Daily Mail articles on this subject have been one sided and inaccurate. I have worked with this so-called death pathway for the last few years. It is not at all designed to remove “difficult” patients or to starve patients we no longer feel are worthy of life.

And this from Beckie:

I was rather disappointed that you ran, and are still linking to, this post. The reason for this, is I don’t think you have all the facts. I am a British healthcare worker who has struggled with the newspaper’s constant lies about The Liverpool Care Pathway. (For full disclosure I work with adults) The articles they have been running this year, including this latest one seem designed to destroy a pathway that actually allows us to love and care for dying people. . .

You can read their entire comments at the original post.

I have two primary reasons why I appreciated their comments:

1) This is an important and highly emotional issue. Getting information directly from other sources is helpful.

2) They were addressing the argument and not attacking me.  Kindness goes a long way toward helping me listen for understanding.  But they also didn’t shy away from expressing clearly what they have observed.  That is a precious and helpful thing they did in practicing care in disagreeing and guiding toward clarity, especially in a public blog.

I’m still concerned about what is happening in US healthcare, especially in the emerging technologies and recommendations to search for children with disabilities in the womb – we know how that ends, statistically. And I’ve read just enough to know that there are people who are concerned about the Liverpool Care Pathway.

But these friends in the UK have shown there are Christians on the inside who see positive things about it, and care should be taken in understanding it, more care than I gave it this past week.  I’m grateful for both what and how they commented.

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.  (1 Thessalonians 5:11 ESV)