The Journey 328

Read: Mark 6: 14-29      Dead or Alive? What constitutes whether a human being is dead or alive. You might wonder why such a simple question is being posed. For countless number of people, they would say that they are alive while another person is dead purely on the fact that the main difference between being dead and being alive is a matter of ones breath. But for sometimes some individuals, are thrown into certain crisis situations in life where one does not know or define whether that person is alive or dead, and the choice of that person’s life is dependent on the choice that the significant others in his/her family takes. Such is the predicament of former boxing champion Hector Macho Camacho. Camacho is from Puerto Rico and he  won the super lightweight, lightweight, and junior welterweight world titles in 1980. Camacho is also famous for his high profile bouts that he fought against Felix Trinidad, Julio Cesar Chavez and Sugar Ray Leonard. For one who has basked in glory, last Tuesday was a tragic day for him. On Tuesday, both he and his friend were shot, killing his friend on the spot, while he lay critically injured. But his injury went worse and doctors in San Juan, Puerto Rico said yesterday that Camacho is clinically dead. This has evoked huge emotion from his family and friends and they all are in a predicament as to when to remove the life support system. It is this predicament that has now turned into a small controversy. According to CNN news agencies, mother of Camacho told the reporters that for her, her son is not alive, but one of the boxers son, refuted the mother’s statement that his father is alive and that he is going to fight till the end. Today in the morning the family members are going to assemble together and take a collective decision as to when to remove Camacho from the life support system. I think this is one of the most painful predicaments that a family has to undergo. As their  loved one hand between death and life, life that is supported in an artificial way, many people find it so hard, and it is indeed hard and painful to decide when the breath of life needs to be stopped. We don't know what the Camacho family will decide today, but that raises the question when is an individual “truly dead or truly alive”. The question that needs to be seen not as an ethical and moral issue with respect to a life supported through a life support system, on the contrary a question that all the so called living people needs to answer, to make a honest assessment as to whether we are truly alive or dead or whether our life is simply prolonged, without any meaning or objective. Hence the question whether “are you dead or alive”
              We are meditating on the theme “ Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Mark 6: 14-29. This portion is all about the tragic death of John the Baptist, who is beheaded by King Herod. John the Baptist died probably at the age of 40. When you are at the age of 40, that is when you are rearing to go, to contribute to family, society and church, with the energy that one gained from the youth stage, the maturity as one engages in family life and after going through different life experiences. But here in the context of John the Baptist, his life is cut short. Could John the Baptist have a longer duration of life if he had not preached boldly the message of the Lord? To live longer was not the criteria nor the deciding factor for John the Baptist. For him as long as he lives, he wanted to be faithful to the message of the Lord and to the calling that God gave to him. Faithfulness to the message and calling meant that he had to cross ways with rulers in authority and this was something not easy but also very dangerous. John boldly spoke against Herod because he had married his brothers wife.  This made Herod angry and he had John the Baptist condemned to prison. Later you find that Herod beheads John the Baptist on the request of his daughter Herodias, who pleased him with her dance performance and the king granted her a wish that he would whatever she asked from him. When Herodias confided this with her mother, it was her mother who prompted her to tell King Herod to have the John the Baptist head on the platter. Thus the life of the messenger of the gospel is cut short tragically. But then John the Baptist was never concerned about how long or how short his life would be. John’s life could have been spared had he not been vociferously speaking against Herod, or he could have been mild or he could have feigned ignorance or turn a blind eye to all that Herod did. Some might even think “what concerns John the Baptist, if King Herod married his brothers wife?”. But for John the Baptist the perspective about life was not a life that is lived for some selfish gains, and that too through doing Christian ministry. For him living was all about preparing the way for the Lord. For him living was all about honesty and integrity to the calling and the message that God gave to him. At a time when messengers of the gospel, dilutes the message of the gospel to subtly gain privileges, John the Baptist teaches us what it means to be fully alive or fully dead. Fully alive is being committed to the calling that God has given to us, boldly taking up the challenge of ministry and gospel even when others are critical of us and are making all efforts to make our life miserable, even to the point of “dead living”; forced to live without any cause or passion. Let us therefore ask ourselves whether we are truly alive, living with integrity, passion and commitment to the Lord or do we belong to the group of living dead, dead in all sense but living only to satisfy certain temporal needs and desires.

Rev. Dr. Joe Joseph Kuruvilla