If we choose the easy way, not only are we choosing sin and the inevitable separation from God, but we make ourselves unblessable and we forego the opportunity for God to work His good through the situation. (Matthew Gilliland)
Henry VIII of England was, in his core beliefs, a good Catholic even after his excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church. Interestingly, Henry’s Catholic principles were not allowed to get in the way of satisfying his personal whims, and, for all his kingly achievements, Henry is remembered primarily for disposing of inconvenient wives and for splitting the Church of England off from the Catholic Church when the Pope would not allow him to use divorce to “legitimize” his adultery.
Last Tuesday, September 13, Marion Gordon “Pat” Robertson, founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network and host of The 700 Club, shocked viewers by saying, in effect, that it would be OK for the spouse of an Alzheimer’s patient to use Henry’s trick of hiding adultery behind the scrim of divorce, because the Alzheimer's patient's forgetfulness is like a death. Reactions from both religious and secular sources was instantaneous, and almost universally negative.
As one friend, who is caring for her Alzheimer’s-afflicted husband, said to me, “How could I leave him just when he needs me most?”
I am certainly grateful that God does not abandon us when we forget who He is!
Granted, Pat’s comments were “off the cuff” at the end of a 700 Club program, and he did say that this was a difficult situation, etc., but still … he said that divorce would be preferable to adultery, as though one can justify one wickedness over another just because one’s situation is difficult!
The fact that righteousness is difficult can never be used as a legitimization for sin! And as one who helped care for a loved one through several years of Alzheimer’s decline, I am offended by the very idea!
I know human beings have shown a remarkable proclivity toward selfishness ever since Adam and Eve had their unauthorized snack, but it was probably not until the 1960s that we started to make our self-centeredness into policy. We proudly announced our depravity with phrases like, “If it feels good, do it.” We – particularly in American society – then went looking for any variation we could find on “self-fulfillment,” “self-realization” or “self-actualization.”
Now, a public religious leader, once-respected for his Biblical conservatism, has spoken out in denial of clear Biblical teaching regarding marriage and commitment in general and has affirmed selfishness as an acceptable basis for moral decision-making.
Interestingly, among the voices raised in reaction to Robertson’s statement, the only ones I have heard rendering even slight approval for the Henry VIII solution have been from aging “liberals.” Among the reasons so few from the younger generation have approved may be that they grew up watching the movie, The Notebook.
In The Notebook, James Garner plays the part of an elderly man who daily visits his Alzheimer’s-afflicted wife and reads to her from a notebook about their earlier lives together. The lady, played by Gena Rowlands, sometimes manages to retrieve herself from the mists of memory for a few blissful moments, only to lose herself again in the horror and fear of the Alzheimer’s.
When I watch this movie, I do so with, on the one hand, a mixture of awe and admiration for the James Garner character, and, on the other, the pain of familiarity with Alzheimer’s. I recognize only too well that loss of personality portrayed by Gena Rowlands, because I watched at close hand as my Mother fell slowly into that same abyss of disconnectedness. I also watch with peace, knowing that no matter how painful and frustrating those final years with Mother were, I would not trade them for anything.
It is a sad day when we can learn more about “goodness” and “covenant commitment” – about “for better, for worse … in sickness and in health” – from James Garner than we can from Pat Robertson.
Jesus said that there is a wide, easy way that leads to destruction, and there is a challenging, narrow way that leads to life. God’s people have no excuse for taking the easy way.
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| Portrait of Henry VIII by Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543) made c. 1536 Madrid, the Thyseen-Bornemisza Collection |
If we choose the easy way, not only are we choosing sin and the inevitable separation from God, but we make ourselves unblessable and we forego the opportunity for God to work His good through the situation. (Matthew Gilliland)
Henry VIII of England was, in his core beliefs, a good Catholic even after his excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church. Interestingly, Henry’s Catholic principles were not allowed to get in the way of satisfying his personal whims, and, for all his kingly achievements, Henry is remembered primarily for disposing of inconvenient wives and for splitting the Church of England off from the Catholic Church when the Pope would not allow him to use divorce to “legitimize” his adultery.
Last Tuesday, September 13, Marion Gordon “Pat” Robertson, founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network and host of The 700 Club, shocked viewers by saying, in effect, that it would be OK for the spouse of an Alzheimer’s patient to use Henry’s trick of hiding adultery behind the scrim of divorce, because the Alzheimer's patient's forgetfulness is like a death. Reactions from both religious and secular sources was instantaneous, and almost universally negative.
As one friend, who is caring for her Alzheimer’s-afflicted husband, said to me, “How could I leave him just when he needs me most?”
I am certainly grateful that God does not abandon us when we forget who He is!
Granted, Pat’s comments were “off the cuff” at the end of a 700 Club program, and he did say that this was a difficult situation, etc., but still … he said that divorce would be preferable to adultery, as though one can justify one wickedness over another just because one’s situation is difficult!
The fact that righteousness is difficult can never be used as a legitimization for sin! And as one who helped care for a loved one through several years of Alzheimer’s decline, I am offended by the very idea!
I know human beings have shown a remarkable proclivity toward selfishness ever since Adam and Eve had their unauthorized snack, but it was probably not until the 1960s that we started to make our self-centeredness into policy. We proudly announced our depravity with phrases like, “If it feels good, do it.” We – particularly in American society – then went looking for any variation we could find on “self-fulfillment,” “self-realization” or “self-actualization.”
Now, a public religious leader, once-respected for his Biblical conservatism, has spoken out in denial of clear Biblical teaching regarding marriage and commitment in general and has affirmed selfishness as an acceptable basis for moral decision-making.
Interestingly, among the voices raised in reaction to Robertson’s statement, the only ones I have heard rendering even slight approval for the Henry VIII solution have been from aging “liberals.” Among the reasons so few from the younger generation have approved may be that they grew up watching the movie, The Notebook.
In The Notebook, James Garner plays the part of an elderly man who daily visits his Alzheimer’s-afflicted wife and reads to her from a notebook about their earlier lives together. The lady, played by Gena Rowlands, sometimes manages to retrieve herself from the mists of memory for a few blissful moments, only to lose herself again in the horror and fear of the Alzheimer’s.
When I watch this movie, I do so with, on the one hand, a mixture of awe and admiration for the James Garner character, and, on the other, the pain of familiarity with Alzheimer’s. I recognize only too well that loss of personality portrayed by Gena Rowlands, because I watched at close hand as my Mother fell slowly into that same abyss of disconnectedness. I also watch with peace, knowing that no matter how painful and frustrating those final years with Mother were, I would not trade them for anything.
It is a sad day when we can learn more about “goodness” and “covenant commitment” – about “for better, for worse … in sickness and in health” – from James Garner than we can from Pat Robertson.
Jesus said that there is a wide, easy way that leads to destruction, and there is a challenging, narrow way that leads to life. God’s people have no excuse for taking the easy way.
