100 Years

In the coming week, if my father was still alive, he would be turning 100.  He would have loved celebrating his 100th birthday with all the attention, his photo in the local paper and, of course, the telegram from the Queen.  You nearly got there, dad, but not quite.  It was just not to be. Sorry but this was of someone else's making and you are now in a better place.  

Turning 100 is not everything and if you ask me, mum and dad lived long enough, if not just a little too long, and it was time to go.  Of course, the decision is not mine to make but this is my opinion on the matter.

Living away from home for 11 years now, I tend to lose touch with what is happening there.  What has attracted my attention lately is that, in Australia, more and more interest is being shown in the issue of euthanasia.  I do not understand why or where the impetus for this is coming from.  I do not judge that I am just showing my age or Catholicism when I share that I find this social trend a real worry.  Taking the ultimate decision away from God and just thinking we can give it to ourselves in such an absolute and public way through legislation strikes me as a dangerous stance on the part of human society.  What really worries me is where all this could ultimately lead. 

One could look at other related life issues - death penalty, nuclear arms and chemical weapons, abortion.  They are all on the agenda and active in our world.  I am no moralistic radical but I do not hold as a basic stance that we have the right to proactively take away life.  Cardinal Bernardin of Chicago had the right idea when he presented the seamless garment image for dealing with a life ethic.  Basically, all life issues are related and when you give way on one, you give way on the others.  They are all interconnected.

I judge that where Church has lost the debate is that it has presented itself as being too moralising, too self-righteous when dealing with ethical issues in any society.  The institutional Church too easily and too simply presents the absolute without acknowledging that life for everyday people is not black and white but rather life takes people into grey areas where they have to make hard choices.  My theory is that if the Church continues along the path of presenting as an absolute ruler in society, it will lose the opportunity to engage with those who do not share its views.  Therein lies a great danger.
  
Back to being 100.  Turning 100 is not everything but such a milestone makes one reflect on life and what it all means.  Thanks dad for making me think a little deeper than usual.  As for the this week's photo, you may ask?  It appears at the head of the blog where dad and mum have star billing.