In an edition of Time Magazine, Catherine Mayer coined the term “amortality” to describe a resistance to the onset of aging created by the intersection of “a massive increase in life expectancy and deep decline in organized religion.” Mayer goes on to describe amortality as living at the same pace from late teens right up to death. Recognizing that we live in an age when amortality is a goal of many and a lifestyle of most, I have even greater appreciation for the life and death Judy Organ chose every step of the way.

During the last week, I’ve had considerable time to think about Judy’s decisions about how and when she would leave her mortal body. Judy recognized that she was mortal and that a part of her mortality was the inevitable decline of her body. When Judy’s attending physician presented her with the idea of extending her life via the use of a ventilator or a tracheotomy, she and her family ask lots of questions about what the outcome of either procedure would be. Judy and her family realized that the use of a ventilator or a tracheotomy would at best extend her life a few months, but provide no hope of a cure or an improvement in her quality of life. Judy made a decision that surprised her physician. She opted not to pursue either procedure. Instead she choose to meet God sooner rather than later.

You see Judy’s life was a testament to mortality and what happens when there is an intersection of the expectation of death and a deep faith in an eternal God. When the hospice representative came to see Judy, she asked that her breathing machine be removed so she could speak. Judy lifted her head and emphatically stated, “I am of sound mind. I do not want a vent or a trach. I want hospice.”

Judy was of sound mind. She choose eternal life and a new body instead of prolonged pain and suffering.

Perhaps Judy’s decisions don’t make sense to a world that values “amortality,” but her decisions made perfect sense to me.

I value mortality and eternal life.

Judy, thanks for teaching me about how to live and how to die.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 16th, 2009 at 9:09 pm and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.