Unplugging

We unplug things all the time; toasters, coffee makers, and, in my house, the Queen of All Electronic Devices, the hairdryer. We think nothing of it.

This afternoon, shortly after 3:00, my family and I will make the decision to unplug my father from a machine that currently helps him breathe. My father suffered a massive heart attack Saturday morning. Since then he has been kept alive on a ventilator. He was without oxygen for several minutes before the squad arrived, and neurological tests show no brain activity. There is a shell of a body there, but the person he was is gone, and there is no hope of getting him back.

And so we will unplug him about 3:00. He will die within a few minutes. I've thought about it, prayed about it, and believe that this is the humane thing to do. But cognitive knowledge and emotional knowledge are sometimes two different things, and so I would ask for your prayers for me and my family.

As it happens, it's my birthday. This will not be one of the happier ones. Please pray for God's mercy on my father, and on us all.