High Risk or Terminally Ill: Should Doctors Prophecize How Long We Have To Live?

When I founded GuerillaHealer, the phrase ‘Terminally Ill’ was being thrown around me left and right. I could not understand for the life of me why someone whose intentions are to heal would ever presume to sentence someone to death. This is why I use the term ‘high risk’ as opposed to the false prophet judgement of ‘terminally ill’.

While people in tough situations may seem at deaths door it seems magical to cherish every breath and to do our best to continue to sustain this effort and energy.

What happens to the psyche when we are told we have a certain amount of time to live?

I’ll tell you from knowing people who were given certain amount of time to live and live beyond it it’s heartbreaking. Who has the right to tell someone how long we have to live?

We have all heard of people who are supposedly not allowed to use medical treatments because of their religion.

What does the Bible say about this?

I did not necessarily set out to learn what the Bible says about this though luckily my father sent me some information this morning and I feel compelled to share it!

“The Talmud only permits him to heal; it does not permit him to pronounce hopelessness.”

Talmudic sources long ago questioned the right of human beings to practice medicine inasmuch as it might be considered interference with the Divine will which decreed sickness. The biblical source permitting the practice of medicine is clear. The Torah gives us the mandate to heal: “He shall cause him to be thoroughly healed” (Exodus 21:19). The Almighty grants us the gift as well as the responsibility to partner with Him in the preservation of life.

But there remains one caveat. Doctors may diagnose but they may not affirm despair; they have a mandate to heal but never to predict how long a patient will live given his or her condition.

Remarkably enough the Bible tells us that prognosticating imminent death is beyond even a true prophet. In the book of Isaiah we are told:

“In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, ‘This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.’ Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, ‘Remember, Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.’ And Hezekiah wept bitterly. Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: ‘Go back and tell Hezekiah, the ruler of my people: This is what the Lord, God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you.’” (2 Kings 20:1-5; Isaiah 38:1-5)

The prophet had told the king that he would not recover. But he did – and he lived on for another 15 years. Hezekiah did have a fatal illness, yet prayer was able to overcome it. As Rabbi Jonathan Sacks put it so beautifully, “From this the Talmud infers, ‘Even if a sharp sword rests upon your neck, you should not desist from prayer’. We pray for a good fate but we do not reconcile ourselves to fatalism.”

Full Article here:
http://www.aish.com/ci/s/Charles-Krauthammer-and-Being-Told-Youre-Going-to-Die.html?s=mm&mobile=yes