At this writing, the urgency of Ted Kennedy's health-condition is not yet generally known. But whether his time is to be measured in days, months, years, or decades, I just have no idea. I join every decent person in praying that Kennedy will be restored to his full powers of strength and vitality. The prayers are offered in the full awareness that the phrase "malignant brain tumor" has a way of making prayers seem foolish. But for me-- and God willing, for Ted Kennedy-- it is prayers that make such moments bearable.
It will probably not come as a shock to learn that politically, I disagreed with just about every statement I have ever heard from Ted Kennedy. One of my earliest political memories is of my father expressing negative opinions about him. In time I came to share my father's outlook. But that does not take away from the awareness that all of us are headed to a day of reckoning. Today, tomorrow, a hundred years from now: sooner or later we all ride the same ferry across the same river. And when a person-- any person-- suddenly finds himself thrust much closer to that ride, we would do well to reflect on it.
No comments:
Post a Comment