MY RIGHT TO DIE

If I have a right to live, why shouldn’t I have a right to die? Actually thoughts like this race through my mind a lot especially when the issue of Euthanasia (mercy Killing) is debated….Yeah…. E.U.T.H.A.N.S.I.A! As there are people awaiting trial in prisons, there are also people awaiting death…and I can only imagine how terrible either case is! Waiting is never easy! I particularly hate to wait! But life would always teach us to wait for something… Whether it’s waiting for a bus, a friend, a life partner, a baby, a promotion or even a job, it’s never easy! Doesn’t the Bible Say that Hope deferred makes the heart sick! How terrible it would seem for those who have to wait in pain for their Death Day!  And yet, the law doesn’t give them the right to die….

I honestly prefer to remain reticent on issues like Abortion, Euthanasia and the likes but hey! What better place do I have to release my thoughts than on paper (or well, yeah, my blog). There’s no gainsaying that people take the issue of Death really personally and most people fear death.  Not me! Yeah! I’ve never feared to die!  I actually grew up with the consciousness of death.  I remember that as a child, anytime I saw the pain and confusion in my parent’s eyes, I’ll start praying to die so that my folks can be relieved. By age 16, I had written out my epitaph. I had beautiful thoughts of my burial and how beautiful my tomb would be with those words written on it (That reminds me, I should find the journal I wrote it in). Seriously, the thought of my death and burial made me smile. I had a crisis in my final year in the University that tarried for a while and I was sure I was going to die…As I saw my classmates and even lectures troop in each day, My heart gladdened at the number of people to be recorded at my burial *smile*. Rather than stay in a hospital bed wailing in pain and stressing my folks, I thought it was better to die and go to Heaven…a Place where there’s neither pain nor tears.

Assuming the pain a sickler experiences is minute and for a short period, what can we say of a person who had an accident and becomes paralyzed from head to toe, he can no longer do anything for himself and to make matters worse, Doctors say nothing can be done about the situation*smh* I do believe in miracles but how long can a person wait? Sometimes, the victim is a complete vegetable and the family is left to continually spend time and energy catering for the victim endlessly. I wouldn’t want to go into all the bitter cases on Euthanasia I know of in this piece but I must say that I can’t understand why some countries totally criminalize it. I hail countries like Netherlands that permits euthanasia under strict conditions…but for most countries, it remains a crime.*Smh*

The most prevailing argument on issues like this is religious but I’m yet to find superior argument.  In my opinion, the most superior argument against Euthanasia is palliative care. If the terminally ill can find people who really love, care and give hope upon hope, Perhaps they wouldn’t want to die… But alas! In Nigeria, my Nigeria where I’m almost sure there’s a dearth of such centers (yes! centers cause friends and family will surely get tired!), why wouldn’t one rather elect death? Hey preacher, don’t start the sermon! Yeah yeah! God gives and God takes; only God has the right to take a life bla bla! I need a preacher to preach it right to me in a language I’ll understand. But for now, here’s what I believe: If I have a right to life, I should have a right to die. Even God has given us the power of choice and He says in his word, I set before you life and death…choose… (See Deuteronomy 30:19) Apparently, the choice is ours!

And hey! Before you start getting all emotional and judgmental, it’s my right to choose and I choose life! *wink*

Happy living all!

PS: After writing this piece, I had a dream...and God told me via that dream that He is a God that steps in in the nick of time. Next, he gave me a Rhema! Please check it out in Mark 12:24….I’m humbled Lord, help me…