My Brother's...or Sister's...Keeper pt. 2

Rather than continue with all the issues the film brought to the viewer's attention, I want to focus on a line in the poem about which I had an important question.

When her sister Kate dies, Anna writes that nothing great came of her death. "There were no buildings named after her or monuments erected in her honor," were her main qualifications for what it meant to have something "great" come from one's death. The minute I heard this, I asked myself, "What about having a building named after a person or a monument erected in a person's honor makes him or her 'great' in death?" I am fascinated that these were the qualifications for Anna for her sister's death to have been great.

What about Kate's caring so much for the dignity of both her and sister's lives that she told Anna to sue her parents for the rights to her own body so that neither of them would be sliced open continually for the sake of the preservation of Kate's currently terrible state? Was it not an act of sacrifice for Kate to refuse the idea that her sister be her natural organ harvest? Did Kate not see a greater meaning for Anna's life than to be her personal organ harvest, when even with Anna's kidney she would not regain health but only be prevented from further downward spiral? What did Anna believe is the meaning of life? Surely for Kate, it was something more than the "reason" her mother had Anna - to serve as a genetically perfect match for Kate in case she needed any organs. She wanted a life for Anna that included the ability to have children and participate fully in physical activities in her adolescent years, and the ability to CHOOSE for herself what to do with her body, when, where, and for what reason. She steadfastly refused to allow Anna to be used to keep herself alive. And yet, at the end, Anna does not mention it.

Why wouldn't she mention it? Quite simply, Kate did not see the meaning of her life as sitting in bed as her body wasted away slowly, or its corollary, receiving new organs so that she could continue to sit in bed as the REST of her body wasted away slowly. "Time [was] up," and the family needed to accept it. And thus, her choice to refuse Anna's body parts for help seemed to be made more out of a personal choice than a sacrificial choice. And as a consequence, Anna did not see her sister's death as something meaningful.

I think Sartre's words illuminate Anna's thoughts on her sister's life: "A man is involved in life, leaves his impress on it, and outside of that there is nothing." To Anna, Kate was involved in life, had enjoyable experiences with her family, and outside of that, there was nothing else.

Another interesting question I have is whether Kate felt the kind of anguish, forlornness, and despair Sartre talked about. My initial thoughts are no. I do not think Kate was a complete existentialist. But she did seem hopeless and resigned to her "fate".

From a Christian perspective, I want to compare and contrast the story of Kate's battle with cancer in the film and that of my friend Richard Felipe's battle with cancer in real life. Like Kate, Richard lost his battle. Besides the similarity in the end results, the stories leading up to the end look completely different. Nowhere in the film did I see Kate sure of the reasons for her cancer, the fact that she could heal, nor what would happen if she did not heal. Richard was. Throughout his battle, I saw him take joy in his trial, because it was making him more like Jesus, who also suffered immensely in his life. I also heard him and many of our brothers and sisters say, "We are sure he can be healed." And yet, they also said, "But there is no less glory if God decides not to heal him." Because all were sure that many lives would be changed for the better because of how they saw Richard live in spite of his cancer. And they were sure that people would see the powerful influence of this "Jesus" character on his thoughts, attitudes, and actions. And lastly, Richard knew that when and if he died, he would immediately be with his Lord in heaven, a place of rejoicing and worshiping God for eternity.

At the end of the film, I did not see Kate living her life to serve others. Yet, our pastor made it a point to say often in the days and weeks leading up to Richard's death, "Richard is living for others." When he saw people in the hospital, he asked what he could do for them. He believed so much that those who did not know Jesus needed to know Him to live eternally that he shared the gospel with as many as would listen. And in spite of his worn condition at church three weeks before his death, I saw him standing and praising God during our worship time, with a facial expression that spelled "peace." The fruits of the Spirit were alive in him, because he made pleasing God by living by Jesus' example his number one priority. He was truly living out the two greatest commandments: to love God and to love one's neighbor as oneself (Matthew 22:37-40). I am truly convicted to live more and more according to Richard's example.

Prayer for India: Jesus, I want to have the same heart as Richard, to live to please You as an example to others. I know this means that I must share more how vitally important Your sacrifice was to truly live, to love others as much as I love myself, and to love You by keeping Your "light burden." Thank you for what you did in Richard's life and his example to the world of Your amazing love, mercy, and compassion. May his life continue to bring You a harvest despite the fact that he is gone from this world.