I saw this posted by Aelfheld over at Gall & Wormwood, who originally received it from Dan Howell. It made for a good ending to a long day.
The young mother set her foot on the path of life. “Is this the long way?” she asked. And the guide said “Yes, and the way is hard. And you will be old before you reach the end of it. But the end will be better than the beginning.”
But the young mother was happy, and she would not believe that anything could be better than these years. So she played with her children, she fed them and bathed them, and taught them how to tie their shoes and ride a bike and reminded them to feed the dog, and do their homework and brush their teeth. The sun shone on them, and the young Mother cried, “Nothing will ever be lovelier than this.”
Then the nights came, and the storms, and the path was sometimes dark,and the children shook with fear and cold, and the mother drew them close and covered them with her arms, and the children said, “Mother, we are not afraid, for you are near, and no harm can come.”
And the morning came, and there was a hill ahead, and the children climbed and grew weary, and the mother was weary. But at all times she said to the children, “A little patience and we are there.”
So the children climbed, and as they climbed they learned to weather the storms. And with this, she gave them strength to face the world. Year after year, she showed them compassion, understanding, hope, but most of all…..unconditional love. And when they reached the top they said, “Mother, we would not have done it without you.”
The days went on, and the weeks and the months and the years, and the mother grew old and she became little and bent. But her children were tall and strong, and walked with courage. And the mother, when she lay down at night, looked up at the stars and said, “This is a better day than the last, for my children have learned so much and are now passing these traits on to their children.”
And when the way became rough for her, they lifted her, and gave her their strength, just as she had given them hers. One day they came to a hill, and beyond the hill, they could see a shining road and golden gates flung wide. And mother said: “I have reached the end of my journey. And now I know the end is better than the beginning, for my children can walk with dignity and pride, with their heads held high, and so can their children after them.”
And the children said, “You will always walk with us, Mother, even when you have gone through the gates.” And they stood and watched her as she went on alone, and the gates closed after her. And they said: “We cannot see her, but she is with us still. A Mother like ours is more than a memory. She is a living presence.”
Your Mother is always with you. She’s the whisper of the leaves as you walk down the street, she’s the smell of certain foods you remember, flowers you pick and perfume that she wore, she’s the cool hand on your brow when you’re not feeling well, she’s your breath in the air on a cold winter’s day. She is the sound of the rain that lulls you to sleep, the colors of a rainbow, she is Christmas morning. Your Mother lives inside your laughter. And she’s crystallized in every tear drop. A mother shows every emotion …….. happiness, sadness, fear, jealousy, love, hate, anger, helpless-ness, excitement, joy, sorrow…..and all the while, hoping and praying you will only know the good feelings in life.
She’s the place you came from, your first home, and she’s the map you follow with every step you take. She’s your first love, your first friend, even your first enemy, but nothing on earth can separate you. Not time, not space…….not even death!
I spent too much time reading other blogs this evening and checking for updates on Terri Schiavo’s case and while I feel very well informed, I’m in a mood where I might write some things I’ll regret. Instead, allow me to point you toward a couple of blogs that I think might still make you glad you visited here today.
I’m making an effort not to focus on one or two issues over and over in this big, wide world, but here are some good takes on topics that have already been discussed here a couple of times. First – and try to keep your eyes from glazing over at least until the end of this paragraph – Social Security. The Policy Guy has a series of short (2-3 paragraphs each) posts that each outline a different issue facing Social Security. Taken as a whole or bit by bit these provide a pretty painless way to get up to speed on this topic. Then if these posts whet your appetite for meatier fare and a rollicking debate check out the following post from Jay Reding and the series of related comments that follow here. You might also check out his post here where he describes individual account retirement plans that are already successful in the U.S.
I always look forward to my daily visit to The Bleat by James Lileks for his off-hand but thoughtful style and humor. He didn’t let me down today with his own take on the Terri Schiavo case (read it here). And while it is very difficult to find much humor in this topic, Sisyphus at Nihilist in Golfpants has a risky but bracing look at the absurdities of the situation with his “Top 11 Reasons to Kill Terri Schiavo.”
Perhaps Michael Schiavo, but he apparently already believes that the woman he once married is no longer alive, so why does it matter to him if her body lives on or not? There are civil, legal options available to him to relinquish his rights and get on with his life that don’t require taking someone else’s.
Michael Schiavo can get on with his life and still let Terri live.
Who suffers? Michael Schiavo says he is fighting to honor Terri’s wishes to not be kept alive like this. Though I’m not aware of other witnesses or testimony to this desire, let’s grant that Terri at one time made such a statement. I know over the course of my own life, however, that there are many opinions I once felt strongly about with which I no longer agree. Some of these I’ve even put down in writing. Are we 100% certain that this is still Terri’s wish?
Just in case, let Terri live.
Who suffers? Some say that Terri Schiavo wouldn’t want to be kept alive in these circumstances, and justify her termination because the body in the hospice no longer has any consciousness that represents her as “Terri.” But if that is so, then “Terri” doesn’t know or care if she’s being kept alive or not.
Let Terri Schiavo live.
Who suffers? Some people may feel the “right to die” may suffer if Terri is kept alive. Many no doubt think that they themselves would not want to be kept alive like this. Your solution is unaffected, however: put it in writing in a Living Will – and hope that you don’t change your mind before the situation arises.
Sign a Living Will, but let Terri Schiavo live.
Why are so many willing to have Terri Schiavo die, but no one is willing to kill her? If the judge is convinced that terminating the shell of Terri Schiavo is necessary, why not authorize a painless lethal injection instead of death by starvation? If the law doesn’t permit this then why don’t the legislators who feel Terri Schiavo must die schedule their own emergency session and pass a law every bit as narrow as what Congress is considering that says Terri Schiavo may be legally killed without having to starve her to death?
Who suffers by letting Terri Schiavo die?
She does, if she is “in there.” Her parents and family do. The fate of every other vulnerable person in her situation either now or in the future does. The soul of a country willing to sacrifice it’s most vulnerable of any age does. Yes, that’s a heavy argument and a hard risk to quantify, but why even take that chance when the question can be easily avoided in one simple way.
Let Terri Schiavo live.
Update:
Go to this post from Michelle Malkin to find links to audio and video recordings of Terri, along with an illuminating description of Florida’s legal requirements for someone to be diagnosed as being in a Persistent Vegetative State (PVS). There’s also a link to James Q. Wilson’s excellent article in the Wall Street Journal.
Filings is an ongoing section of this blog where the posts focus specifically on issues of Christian life. The name comes about because “filings” are the natural by-product of Proverbs 27:17: “as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”
You know, we can have a lot of fun taking personality tests on the Web. In recent weeks I’ve found out what great world leader I’m most like (John F. Kennedy), what classic movie I am (“Schindler’s List”) and who I’d be in 1400 (a Lord, see post below). These may not necessarily be things to be proud of, but they’re not as bad as being an expendable wine taster, Josef Stalin or “Dude, Where’s My Car?”
Actually, the movie I most identify with right now is “The Incredibles.” Here’s why: besides being hip, smart and fun for the whole family (like me), the movie has an interesting premise. In it, superheroes are forced by society to go underground and live anonymous lives, hiding their super powers. One family in particular struggles to keep a low profile as well as deal with the more mundane issues of daily family dynamics.
It wasn’t much of a stretch for me to see the allegory between the lives of the superheroes in the movie and the lives of committed Christians in our own world. The superheroes made the rest of the world uncomfortable with their powers and lifestyle and were forced to appear “normal.” In the same way there is a great deal of pressure from the world for Christians to keep their faith and spiritual gifts undercover so as not to make others uncomfortable – even though in both examples these gifts have the power to “save” the world.
What gifts or “supernatural” powers am I talking about?
I don’t want to hash doctrines and parse scripture here, but there are certain motivational or relationship gifts outlined in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4 and 1 Peter 4 that I think most Christians will recognize. Simply, God has gifted believers with certain special abilities to both bolster our local fellowship, influence the world around us for the better and to serve the causes of truth, justice and righteousness. Do you know what your secret identity is? Are you Exhorter Man or Giver Girl? Maybe Super Server? Actually I made up those names, but the attributes are among nine gifts identified in this Spiritual Gifts test.
It will take you about 20 minutes to complete and I assure you the results will have a more profound affect on the way you see yourself and those around you than finding out if you would have been a Knight or a Knave. (I may have one or two doctrinal quibbles with the test itself, but I think it’s basically sound and includes a useful analysis on how to make the most of your gift and what spiritual “kryptonite” you have to be on-guard for. Personally I came out with Exhorter, Giver, Teacher as my three strongest gifts).
A couple of other similarities between “The Incredibles” and real life: even the kid Incredibles had special abilities, and that’s true for us as well. We’ve seen specific gifts at work within our daughters from an early age. Finally, the greatest enemy of both the superheroes in the movie and for Christians today (indeed, of all time) is an imposter who offers counterfeits of the real thing in the hopes of leaving the world at his mercy. If you’re a believer and haven’t had the time or boldness to examine what “super powers” God has given to you, I strongly urge you to use this test as a starting point and then look for ways to develop these gifts in your family, congregation and community.
Remember, as Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben once said, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
Alright, it’s late and the deep thoughts took the night off. Might as well take a swing at the test du jour some of the other MOBsters are trying out: the “Who Would You Be in 1400 AD?” quiz. While I half suspect some nefarious behaviorist is behind all of these tests and is collecting psychological dossiers on MOB members for dark purposes, I’ll bite. Tell me about ME, ME, ME!
The Lord
You scored 21% Cardinal, 51% Monk, 35% Lady, and 67% Knight!
You are of the intellectual breed and yet you are also very interested in war. You are of the aristocracy and head the cavalry a safe distance from the carnage of the front lines. You believe in defeating your enemy with not only might, but also wit.
You scored high as both the Monk and the Knight. You can try again to get a more precise description of either the Monk or the Knight, or you can be happy that you’re an individual.
I haven’t posted much about the Terri Schiavo case in Florida because there’s not much I can add beyond my prayers to the many fine posts and exhortations already out there.
I have been following this closely, however, and I’ve pondered what generally appears to be a shrug-like response from much of country when it comes to the possibility that a profoundly disabled woman may be starved to death.
This, by the way, in a country where death threats are made on the life of someone who proposes legalizing the hunting of feral cats in Wisconsin and where opponents of capital punishment easily capture the ear of the media in an effort to spare the life of even the most heinous criminals. I wonder what the reaction would be if a judge agreed with Michael Schiavo that Terri’s life wasn’t worth living, but instead of going through the mental and legal gymnastics of interpreting food and water as extreme medical measures that can legally be withheld, simply said “you have the State’s permission to shoot her.” Or, what if Scott Peterson’s sentence were to be carried out by starvation? And are there no prominent feminists who find anything of interest in this at all?
To be fair, I think most people simply figure this is an unfortunate situation and assume that the current state of events has come about only after exhaustive medical and ethical deliberation. Now it appears that that may be far from the case, and that Terri’s condition may have been diagnosed on the flimsiest of tests and her treatment has been based – most charitably – on convenience or at worst on an agenda.
Read this article from the National Review Online to find out why several expert, board-certified neurologists are asking for, at the least, a reevaluation of Terri’s condition, citing that even basic tests such as an MRI or Positron Emission Tomography (PET) haven’t been conducted and that there are other gaps in her care that are questionable.
Please read the NRO article. I’ll warn you that it is rather long and may be a bit of an inconvenience. If so, it will be only a minor one and I apologize in advance. There is someone else out there, however, who may find that being inconvenient is a capital offense.
Update:
On Wednesday, March 23 the National Review Online posted the following affidavit from William P. Cheshire, Jr., MD. Dr. Cheshire is a neurologist and certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and is an appointed volunteer with the Florida statewide Adult Protective Services team, in which capacity he conducted an independent, 90 minute examination of Terri Schiavo on March 1, 2005. To date, the courts have not admitted this affidavit.
The link is to a PDF file of the original document and is somewhat fuzzy. I have retyped an excerpt of seven observations made by Dr. Cheshire below. You can use the link above to read the document in its entirety, including the footnotes to clinical studies in the original that I have omitted in my retyping. These observations, again, are from an expert who has been able to visit Terri Schiavo recently, and may be illuminating to anyone who has the impression that she is little more than a houseplant.
Based on my review of extensive medical records documenting Terri’s case over the years, on my personal observations of Terri, and on my observations of Terri’s responses in the many hours of videotapes taken in 2002, she demonstrates a number of behaviors that I believe cast a reasonable doubt on the prior diagnosis of PVS. These include:
1. Her behavior is frequently context-specific. For example, her facial expression brightens and she smiles in response to the voice of familiar persons such as her parents or her nurse. Her agitation subsides and her facial demeanor softens when quiet music is played. When jubilant piano music is played, her face brightens, she lifts her eyebrows, smiles, and even laughs. Her lateral gaze toward the tape player is sustained for many minutes. Several times I witnessed Terri briefly, albeit inconsistently, laugh in response to a humorous comment someone in the room had made. I did not see her laugh in the absence of someone else’s laughter.
2. Although she does not seem to track or follow visual objects consistently or for long periods of time, she does fixate her gaze on colorful objects or human faces for some 15 seconds at a time and occasionally follow with her eyes at least briefly as these objects move from side to side. When I first walked into her room, she immediately turned her head toward me and looked directly at my face. There was a look of curiosity or expectation in her expression, and she maintained eye contact for about half a minute. Later, when she again looked at me, she brought her lips together as if to pronounce the letter “O,” and although for a moment it appeared that she might be making an intentional effort to speak, her face then fell blank, and no words came out.
3. Although I did not hear Terri utter distinct words, she demonstrates emotional expressivity by her use of single syllable vocalizations such as “ah,” making cooing sounds, or by expressing guttural sounds of annoyance or moaning appropriate to the context of the situation. The context-specific range and variability of her vocalizations suggests at least a reasonable probability of the processing of emotional thought within her brain. There have been reports of Terri rarely using actual words specific to her situational context. The July 25, 2003 affidavit of speech pathologist Sara Green Mele, MS, on page 6, reads, “The records of Mediplex reflect the fact that she has said ‘stop’ in apparent response to a medical procedure being done to her.” The Adult Protective Services team has been unable to retrieve those original medical records in this instance.
4. Although Terri has not consistently followed commands, there appear to be some notable exceptions. In the taped examination by Dr. Hammesfahr from 2002, when asked to close her eyes she began to blink repeatedly. Although it was unclear whether she squeezed her grip when asked, she did appear to raise her right leg four times in succession each time she was asked to do so. Rehabilitation notes form 1991 indicated that she tracked inconsistently, and although did not develop a yes/no communication system, did follow some commands inconsistently and demonstrated good eye contact to family members.
5. There is a remarkable moment in the videotape of the September 3, 2002 examination by Dr. Hammesfahr that seemed to go unnoticed at the time. At 2:44 p.m., Dr. Hammesfahr had just turned Terri onto her right side to examine her back with a painful sharp stimulus (a sharp piece of wood), to which Terri had responded with signs of discomfort. Well after he ceased applying the stimulus and had returned Terri to a comfortable position, he says to her parents, “So, we’re going to have to roll her over…” Immediately Terri cries. She vocalizes a crying sound, “Ugh, ha, ha, ha,” presses her eyebrows together, and sadly grimaces. It is important to note that, at that moment, no one is touching Terri or causing actual pain. Rather, she appears to comprehend the meaning of Dr. Hammesfahr’s comment and signals her anticipation of pain. This response suggests some degree of language processing and interpretation at the level of the cerebral cortex. It also suggests that she may be aware of pain beyond what could be explained by simple reflex withdrawal.
6. According to the definition of PVS published by the American Academy of Neurology, “persistent vegetative state patients do not have the capacity to experience pain or suffering. Pain and suffering are attributes of consciousness requiring cerebral cortical functioning, and patients who are permanently and completely unconscious cannot experience these symptoms.” And yet, in my review of Terri’s medical records, pain issues keep surfacing. The nurses at Woodside Hospice told us that she often has pain with menstrual cramps. Menstrual flow is associated with agitation, repeated or sustained moaning, facial grimacing, limb posturing, and facial flushing, all of which subside once she is given ibuprofen. Some of the records document moaning, crying, and other painful behavior in the setting of urinary tract infection.
The neurologic literature has traditionally distinguished between, on one hand, the patterned reflex response resulting form mere activation of spinal and brain stem pain circuits in PVS and, on the other hand, conscious awareness of pain which requires participation by the cerebral cortex, including interpretation, felt emotional awareness, and volitional avoidance behavior that would not be expected to occur in PVS. Recent studies suggest, however, that such a distinction may not be the clear bright line previously imagined. Laureys and colleagues demonstrated, for example, neuronal processing activity in the primary somatosensory area of the cerebral cortex in response to noxious stimuli in patients with PVS.
Regardless of what objective measures may be available, the conscious experience of pain remains a phenomenon directly discernable only trough introspective awareness, which means that one cannot directly know with certainty the pain another person experiences. If, as the authors of a consensus statement on PVS wrote in 1994, there are some cases in which “the absence of a response cannot be taken as proof of the absence of consciousness,” then should not the clear presence of pain be given serious consideration as possibly indicating conscious awareness of Terri Schiavo? The fact that Terri’s responses to pain have been context-specific, sustained, and in the taped example I cited, in response to a spoken sentence, all suggest the possibility that she may be at some level consciously aware of pain.
Terri has received analgesic medication as treatment for her pain behavior. This seems to be appropriate medical treatment if one cannot know with certainty whether her behavior indicates conscious awareness of pain. If a patient behaves as if in pain, then the clinically prudent and compassionate response, when in doubt, is to treat the pain. If a patient behaves at times as though there may be some remnant of conscious awareness, then the clinically prudent and compassionate response, when in doubt is to treat that patient with respect and care. If Terri is consciously aware of pain, and therefore is capable of suffering, then her diagnosis of PVS may be tragically mistaken.
7. To enter the room of Terri Schiavo is nothing like entering the room of a patient who is comatose or brain-dead on in some neurological sense no longer there. Although Terri did not demonstrate during our 90-minute visit some compelling evidence of verbalization, conscious awareness, or volitional behavior, yet the visitor has the distinct sense of the presence of a living human being who seems at some level to be aware of some things around her.
As I looked at Terri, and she gazed directly back at me, I asked myself whether, if I were her attending physician, I could in good conscience withdraw her feeding and hydration. No, I could not. I could not withdraw life support if I were asked. I could not withhold life-sustaining nutrition and hydration from this beautiful lady whose face brightens in the presence of others.
The neurologic signs are in many ways ambiguous. There is no guarantee that more sophisticated testing would definitively resolve that ambiguity to everyone’s satisfaction. There would be value, I think, in obtaining a functional MRI scan if that is possible.
This situation differs fundamentally from end-of-life scenarios where it is appropriate to withdraw life-sustaining medical interventions that no longer benefit or are burdensome to patients in the terminal stages of illness. Terri’s feeding tube is not a burden to her. It is not painful, it is not infected, is not eroding her stomach lining or causing any medical complications. But for the decision to withdraw her feeding tube, Terri cannot be considered medically terminal. But for the removal of food and water, she would not die.
In summary, Terri Schiavo demonstrates behaviors in a variety of cognitive domains that call into question the previous neurologic diagnosis of persistent vegetative state. Specifically, she has demonstrated behaviors that are context-specific, sustained, and indicative of cerebral cortical processing that, upon careful neurologic consideration, would not be expected in a persistent vegetative state.
Based on this evidence, I believe that, within a reasonable degree of medical certainty, there is a greater likelihood that Terri is in a minimally conscious state than a persistent vegetative state. This distinction makes an enormous difference in making ethical decisions on Terri’s behalf. If Terri is sufficiently aware of her surroundings that she can feel pleasure and suffer, if she is capable of understanding to some degree how she is being treated, then in my judgment it would be wrong to bring about her death by withdrawing food and water.
Go here to read the remarkable account of Kate Adamson, a woman who was incapacitated and had her feeding tube removed after suffering a double brainstem stroke in 1995. She describes the horror of being able to hear what people were saying, understanding what was being done to her, and being unable to react. After her husband succeeded in getting her feeding tube reattached she went on to a miraculous recovery.
There’s a great article about my favorite author, Mark Helprin, in the Sunday L.A. Times entitled “Dressing Down the Primitives.” This article provides an intriguing profile of an undaunted conservative in a liberal environment who, after standing so long against the predominant mindset around him, is completely unafraid of what conservatives think as well. Mark Helprin is everything I want to be when (if) I grow up as a writer.
I saw the Steve Levy column in Newsweek about the White Male Domination (WMD) of blogging – apparently at the expense of women – and couldn’t wait to post about this capital offense under a headline such as White Man Blogging. However, my fellow Brotherhood of Man member Jeff Jarvis beat me to it. Not only that, but he said it better than I could. He also said too much.
See, Jeff is very smart, but if he were truly astute he’d know that the only appropriate thing he could say to appease a certain element, other than “Please pass the hemlock,” is “I’m sorry.” Furthermore, the more often you say it, and the more abject you are, the better.
So here, on behalf of Jeff and all the other selfish white guys hogging the ether, allow me to say:
I’m sorry I’m a white guy.
I’m sorry we get all the good ideas and strong opinions.
I’m sorry we’ve created secret handshakes and other signals that allow us cheap access to blog hosting services while making everyone else pay through the nose.
I’m sorry we’ve erected barriers even higher than the MSM to keep out the unwashed, untrained and undesireable.
I’m sorry that every state doesn’t have a MAWB Squad chapter – yet.
I’m sorry that I’m not more in touch with my feminine side when blogging. (Really, I’d like to be and certainly would be if it wasn’t for the restraining order. But I notice the Night Writer likes to wear skirts, based on what’s in the “About” section of this blog.)
I once lead a group of men up to Mille Lacs for an ice-fishing weekend. As the Minfidel has previously stated, ice-fishing isn’t necessarily a thrill a minute, or even a thrill an hour. To wile away the time when we weren’t clubbing eelpout or steeling ourselves for a trip to the satellite, I devised a poker tournament.
The concept was simple. Each of the ten guys received $2500 in scrip to use for betting. At the end of the weekend we would use the scrip we’d accumulated to bid on prizes that I brought along. Scrip changed hands at a moderate rate for the first hour or so as we played conventional games such as five card draw and seven card stud. Then someone suggested a hand of “in-between.”
For those not familiar with this type of poker, it is a very simple but diabolical game that calls for very little strategy but generates huge pots and sudden betting reversals that deliver the kind of belly laughs that normally accompany watching another guy take an unexpected shot to the – umm – mid-section. This soon became the game of choice among our group, and it wasn’t long after that before our first guys tapped out. Since it was hours until dawn and the fish were fasting, “loans” were quickly arranged for the less fortunate so everyone could continue to play. Soon enough, the once wealthy were borrowing from other players as well. Some effort was made to keep track of who owed what and to who, but it rapidly became so convoluted as to be impossible.
By the time we were ready to go even the guy who had the biggest stack at the end still owed many times that to other players, who themselves owed many of their neighbors. As we tried to reconstruct the transactions I got the idea to add up all the “loans” that were passed around. Even though there was still only $25,000 in actual scrip, the total of all the loans was easily more than ten times that. Rather than auction, we decided to simply draw lots for the prizes. This seemed to please everyone but the guy who had ended up with the pile and who, as I recall, didn’t win anything in the drawing.
Now I’m sure you economists out there and others more clever than I in finances can draw all kinds of metaphors on socialism, credit, inflation and even the gold standard from the mini-symposium in economics we unwittingly conducted. When I think about the current debate over Social Security, however, I often find myself harkening back to that frozen weekend.
As I understand it, while there’s no doubt that Social Security benefits are being paid, and that taxes have been collected, the so-called “lockbox” is full of nothing but promises to pay. The politicians have swapped the funds back and forth between each other time after time just so they can keep playing the game. Eventually it’s going to be time to go home, and somebody’s going to be left holding a bunch of worthless paper.
Filings is an ongoing section of this blog where the posts focus specifically on issues of Christian life. The name comes about because “filings” are the natural by-product of Proverbs 27:17: “as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”
“Right is still right, even if nobody is doing it. Wrong is still wrong, even if everybody is doing it.”
– St. Augustine.
Minnesota Vikings Head Coach Mike Tice appears to have stepped on his whistle, admitting to having scalped Super Bowl tickets. This is likely to lead to scrutiny from the IRS, a significant fine from the league and possibly the loss of his job and even his pro career. It’s not too unlike what happened to his friend, former high school coach and Viking defensive coordinator George O’Leary who was fired shortly after being hired as head coach at Notre Dame when it was discovered he lied on his resume.
Whether they were aware of it at the time or not, both men jeopardized their dream jobs for what seemed like harmless, short-term gain.
Have you ever struggled to do the right thing on your job or in your business while it seemed like everyone else was getting ahead doing the wrong thing?
Several years ago I talked at length with a man by the name of Ronnie Carroll who had an amazing story. In the late ’80s Ronnie owned a satellite TV dealership in Tallahassee, FL. This is a great business to be in in that part of Florida because it is almost impossible to get TV reception there unless you have a dish.
Ronnie was having a tough time, however, because he was the only dealer in the area who refused to sell illegal decoders that allowed folks to unscramble HBO and the like without having to pay a fee. His potential customers would hear his policy and go on down the road and buy their equipment from a dealer that would also sell them the pirate decoders.
For months Ronnie watched business go out the door. He eventually had to close his shop and try to operate his business from his home. Ronnie prayed throughout the winter, asking God to “judge his cause” and seeking direction on whether he should find another line of business.
That spring a couple of gentlemen from the FCC showed up at Ronnie’s door. They said that Washington had made it a priority to crack down on illegal decoders and they were starting in his area. Their investigation had already shown that Ronnie was the only dealer in the area who wasn’t selling the devices and they wanted him to be in charge of collecting the pirate decoders. All dish owners were being told they had a 30-day grace period to turn in their outlaw decoders and pay Ronnie a $300 “disposal fee” or face prosecution. Simultaneously many of his one-time competitors were facing prosecution themselves and were going to find it hard to stay in business.
It also turned out that the company that made the bootleg devices also made legal decoders. Since the dishes wouldn’t work without some kind of decoder the FCC required the manufacturer to provide Ronnie with a line of credit to buy legal decoders to sell to the people turning in their outlaw equipment.
“Overnight,” Ronnie said, “I suddenly had people crammed in my living room and lined up down my driveway to turn in their devices and buy new decoders and subscriptions. There were judges, lawyers and police officers in line. I bought a sign that said, ‘As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,’ and put it by my front door.” Immediately Ronnie’s business went from barely surviving to grossing more than $80,000 a month. Several newspapers and television stations interviewed him and he shared his story with all he talked to. When I last talked to him years ago his business was still thriving.
One moral to this story is that God doesn’t move quickly: He moves suddenly. It may not look like anything is going on, but His blessing is already on the way and in one moment to the next everything can change. Heaven forbid that the moment right before that is when we give in. When the FCC rang Ronnie’s doorbell he no doubt thought it was a bill collector, and not the answer to his prayers. We need to expect God’s faithfulness, and don’t let our actions or attitudes succumb to what appears to be reality.
What is the price you put on your honesty and integrity? Will you sell it – like Esau – for some piddling and short-term gain? We live in a world full of hustlers, always trying to shade themselves a little edge here and there. The dismaying thing to me is not that this happens, but for what little amounts people are willing to trade their name and integrity. The thing about a path that is straight and narrow is that there are no corners we can cut and still stay on it.
Proverbs 22:1 says, “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.” Temptation is always around to provide opportunity and justification; when exposed to the light, however, these justifications are shown to be flimsy and selfish. Likewise, we may not see the true value of our reputation until we ourselves are exposed, and by then it’s too late. What we get never seems equal to what we give up. Indeed, it is “too late” the moment we cheat, not the moment we get caught.
Integrity is not something that can be taken away from us – we can only give it away. We need to be careful that in our efforts to make a name for ourselves that we don’t end up giving that name away.
