Who deserves the best care?

I saw this article entitled "Why should fat people take precedence over the elderly in the NHS?" on the Daily Telegraph's website recently and it's been bothering me and playing on my mind a bit ever since. I remember when I was at sixth form in my AS Level Critical Thinking (i.e. dos subject) we talked about this too; should people who knowingly over eat (or by the same token smoke or drink excessively or use illegal substances) have priority treatment over others under the NHS? Should they have to pay towards (or for all) of their treatment? Should they be given the top spot on waiting lists for operations, organ transplants etc. or should they go first to those whose conditions have been caused through no deliberate action of their own? At the time the majority of our class agreed that if a person who has been warned repeatedly by doctors and other means that their lifestyle is causing serious damage to their health then yes, they should be made to pay in some way and that it was unrealistic to expect the NHS and the taxpayer to pick up the bill for your over indulgence. (And although my opinion has greatly changed on this matter over the last five years I'm ashamed to admit to still being one of those people who, upon seeing someone very, very overweight on a mobility scooter, quietly grumbles inside that if they simply got off the thing and walked down the high street they would lose the weight anyway.)

So the question is; is one person really more deserving of medical treatment than another? Despite all of the grumblings to the contrary the answer has to be no. (What irritates me in particular in the linked article was the fact that the author categorically said that there should not be scapegoats should the NHS ration care yet what she herself proposes is replacing one scapegoat - the elderly - with a different one - the obese - which is just as bad.) Yes a person who has emphysema after years of chain smoking or someone who is twenty stone through over eating has done this to themselves, they have done it with a full knowledge of the risks, there was never a doubt about where it would end. And it is not fair that the elderly are being maltreated, ignored, denied basic care especially when they haven't done anything to cause their need for extra care apart from live to a ripe old age. But no matter how much we personally may disagree and disapprove of another person's choices these things do not change the fact that we all share the same innate dignity. We are, all of us, created in the image and likeness of God, all loved and cared for by Him and this never, ever changes whether we are young or old, obese or skinny, a smoker or non-smoker. Because of this dignity, the beautiful gift of life, the very marvel of our own creation we are all worthy of the same treatment, the same respect, the same love and care as everyone else. (This is why I get upset with myself when I think unfair things about others like that mentioned above...and spend half my life in Confession...) I totally agree that it is wrong that the elderly are marginalised when it comes to medical care but we do not improve things, make them any fairer or easier by inflicting that on someone else instead.

God is good!

The sunset as seen from my garden tonight...

Happy Easter

Ripping the innocence out of childhood

Not long ago I posted about the impact fashion magazines play on sexualising teens (you can read it here). There is not a single doubt in my mind that the messages these mags send out to young people is unrealistic and unhealthy with the idea that to be beautiful, to be 'normal' you have to be 'sexy'. Promiscuity is not considered a dangerous thing, dressing and acting in a provocative was is an acceptable thing to do. No one mentions that treating your own body as an object is not just detrimental to the way we see ourselves but also in the way that others behave toward us and we, in turn, to them. If you in your own mind are simply something for others to desire (and conducting yourself in a way that would make them do this) you are selling yourself unbelievably short, degrading your own dignity as a human being into a mere "thing" to be used or disposed of at the whim of yourself or others. And despite people insisting that the view to the contrary, the notion that we should be teaching our young people to respect themselves and others, to treat their bodies as the temples they are, is nonsense and there is no harm in the short skirt, the low-cut top, the tight jeans and t-shirt. But I beg to differ. This casual attitude towards these issues will not simply stay put, not just affect those in their teens but will spread and contaminate children much younger.

Earlier this week I read this story from the Mail Online about a television programme called "Dance Moms" (which up until now I had never heard of) and how in a recent episode the girls, some as young as eight years old, were given nude and tan coloured bikinis to wear and taught to dance burlesque routines. I couldn't quite believe the story when I first read it and it took a few moments for it to fully sink in. And after it did I was simply flabbergasted at what it was I was reading. The teacher, a woman named Abby Lee Miller, announced the routine and told them it was important "the audience should think you are nude", giving them only pink feathers to cover themselves with and told them to dance in a way that clearly said "I'm hot, I mean, you can't have me, you can't afford me". Both the girls and their mothers were shocked by this but their protestations were not string enough to stop the session from going ahead. (If it had been my daughter I'd have grabbed her by the hand and marched from the room in disgust.) The justification from Miller was "Everyone in the industry knows the girls are completely covered and everything is harmless..." Harmless? Encouraging children, pre-teen children, to dance as though a man "can't afford" them is anything but harmless. No one should ever look at any person like that, let alone someone of eight years old. Irrespective of whether they are wearing nude bikinis or not they are being taught to dance, to behave in a way that makes someone desire them sexually. I would say that that is wrong in a person above the age of consent as we are more than mere sex objects, the dignity of a human being is rooted in their creation in the image and likeness of God and each person should be viewed and respected equally, but to have kids do it? That's wrong on so, so many levels. Sexualising children robs them of the innocence that makes them what they are, it forces them, prematurely and grossly under prepared, into an adult world where people are valued on appearance and how 'appealing' they are, pushes them into a world where casual nudity and sexual encounter are the norm, are healthy, are "harmless". No one stops to show them the depth and beauty of their own dignity but leads them straight to the lion's den.

Ecce ancilla Domini, Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.

Today is one of my favourite feast days; it is certainly one of the most profoundly joyful as it is celebrates the moment Our Lord's life on earth began but also gives us much to meditate on in that fiat of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

There are many brilliant posts out in the Blogosphere this morning which eloquently unwrap this great mystery. And whilst I can never hope to keep up or compete in delving into the depths of theology that they do I did want to share one thought. We often hear people telling us to offer ourselves up to God, to offer our joys and sorrows, our gladness and suffering up to Him. When I was on the RCIA it utterly puzzled me precisely how you should do this. And I don't mean in terms of what words or formula you should ideally use but more how one should or could approach the Lord. How can I, unworthy as I am, bring these things before Him? How can I present them to Him? How should I commit myself to Him and try to keep to the straight and narrow? Not wanting to sound overly pious but I can't do this alone and on top of that have a short attention span. One comment made to me was that my mental block was the devil trying to keep me from Christ...maybe...but instead I think it was actually God showing me of a better way, of a perfect way, of the way He wanted me to do it.

The answer, as highlighted many times in St. Louis de Montfort's book 'True Devotion to Mary', is to offer all things through our blessed Mother. We submit ourselves to her through a practise known as 'holy slavery' where we freely and humbly commit to serving her every day, offering her all our prayers so that, in turn, she may offer them to her Son. This concept baffles many and those who follow it are accused of worshipping Mary. Let's be clear; Mary is a creature, she is not equal to God, she is not greater than God and she is not worthy of the worship offered to God alone BUT she is the perfect creature; free from any stain of sin and perfectly in tune with the will of God, she knows the truth of her own nothingness and depends totally on God, looking always to Him. When we say 'Hail Mary' she leads us straight to God. In serving her, in loving her we imitate the example of Jesus who chose to submit Himself to her during His hidden life at Nazareth. We follow closely at her heel, like a child to its mother, because she always walks in the path of holiness. She cannot take us anywhere but to her Son. She is the Gate of Heaven, the one who brings us to the beatific vision. We do well to follow her example, to submit to her rule and try to come to that same trust and love of God, always aided by her intercession.

In the Gospel today we hear her say those wonderful words; "Ecce ancilla Domini, fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum." ("Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to thy word.") And fervently pray that we too may offer ourselves to God with her humility, with her faith, with her trust and obedience. She invites us into this mystery, to pray with her and through her and in her immaculate heart to meet Jesus. We cannot fail to find Him there and pray that He, through His blessed mother, will make His home in us too.

V. Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariae.
R. Et concepit de Spiritu Sancto.

Ave Maria gratia plena Dominus tecum.
Benedicta tu in mulieribus et benedictus fructus ventris tui Iesus.
Sancta Maria Mater Dei
Ora pro nobis pecatoribus nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.

V. Ecce ancilla Domini,
R. Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.

Ave, Maria…

V. Et Verbum caro factum est,
R. Et habitavit in nobis.

Ave, Maria......

V. Ora pro nobis, sancta Dei Genetrix,
R. Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi.

Oremus:
Gratiam tuam, quaesumus, Domine, mentibus nostris infunde; ut qui, Angelo nuntiante, Christi Filii tui incarnationem cognovimus, per passionem eius et crucem ad resurrectionis gloriam perducamur.
Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

Growth in holiness

As I was Goggling "kiss the cross" for a piccie for my last post and, rather randomly, came across this;

It's an interesting one to look at especially during Lent. As we hear Jesus' foretelling what He would suffer in the Gospels and as we walk with Him on the Stations of the Cross we are called to pick up our own Crosses and follow Him. It even came up in our Gospel reading today; "Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be." As we move through this powerful and penitential season we become much more acutely aware that goodness, all goodness and holiness and love and justice and mercy comes from God and God alone and we are totally and utterly in need of Him, we can do nothing without Him. More and more we realise our own sinful tendencies, our own nothingness and we out to God from a place of deeper humility, plead for forgiveness and for the chance to let Him be our life, our whole life. As we do this we, little bit by little bit, pick up and embrace the cross and carry it gladly.

Being misunderstood

One of the hardest things about being Christian sometimes is the way in which the world interprets a lot of the things you say. Our mission, our vocation is to proclaim the Gospel, to tell the world who Jesus is and what He has done for us; to take upon Himself the punishment for our sinfulness and win life eternal for us. And we each live out this call from God in very diverse and differing ways; some do this very publicly by openly teaching and catechising and simply talking about these issues with anyone and everyone and others in smaller but equally important and valuable ways. And no matter whether you're trying to talk to someone about the teaching of the Church or quietly living out the call to holiness there will always be people who disagree, who take exception.

Our instant reaction when people misinterpret our actions and disagree with us is to try and justify ourselves, to explain, to argue, to try and get the other person to see our point of view. And whilst this is very tempting it rarely gets us anywhere and we get bogged down in trying to make the other person agree with us and we can lose sight of what it is we were originally trying to convey; instead of joyfully proclaiming the truth for its own sake we let our pride creep in and we become too concerned with simply being "right." I in particular am guilty of this and have spent much time talking about it with my spiritual director and his advice to me when I am faced with these situations is not to knee-jerk react and argue it out but the "kiss the cross", accept that I am being misunderstood, accept that in the eyes of the other person I am wrong and offer that up to God. Anyone who knows me remotely will know I do not like being called or thought of as stupid or being wrong so learning to accept this, to quite literally get over myself, does not come naturally and is a struggle. And whilst it is something it is taking me a very long time to learn I can hear Christ calling me, guiding me, helping me to kiss the wood of the cross, to embrace it and bear it as He did.

I love this picture of Blessed JPII venerating the Cross, handed to him
by the soon to be Papa Bene!

Hmm...think I'm going to need some more time and prayer before I move much further forward with that one!

Grow where God plants you

This is a lovely little post from Fr. Stephen Smuts which has just popped on my Twitter feed. Thought I'd share it as it's good advice for all of us in good times and bad.

"God, as always, has a plan. He sees the bigger picture – the one we cannot. He knows the future. Resolve: To trust Him… and to grow where He plants…

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. - Prov 3:5-6"

Have a good week!