“Starbucks on a Wednesday”

         As an ARDS survivor, or as a supporter of someone who has had ARDS, you know all about the tremendous stress and strain it places on family and friends. The often talked about “Roller Coaster Ride” that characterizes ARDS, is not found in Disneyland or any other amusement park, nor is it one that you would purchase a ticket to experience. If you have been one of the fortunate 60% who survive the trauma, you will have retained a sense of awe and thankfulness which cannot easily be placed into words. Surviving a sudden, unprovoked life-changing experience leaves an indelible mark on the soul that takes time to fade, and may perhaps never leave. It is for this reason that there is a dedicated group of people who are called The ARDS Foundation,  www.ardsil.com , who make themselves available to the world as a vehicle for information and support of those experiencing similar crisis in their lives.     Talking about support…….I would like to introduce you to some friends of mine. A picture says a thousand words, so I have included a pic of my friends at Starbucks on a Wednesday afternoon, cappuccino’s and chocolate chip cookies on the table, and don’t they look like a pretty ordinary group of people?…happy, smiling and ready to welcome you into their company.  

What you would not know by looking at this picture is that there are really TEN people in the picture….the five that you see, and the five whose transplanted lungs provided them with “The Gift of Life.” Each of those people in the picture owes their lives to the anonymous Gift of Life that came from an unknown angel. Once a month, this group comes together for friendship, mutual support and to discuss how they can help others who are faced with having to have an organ transplant to survive. In addition, they discuss ways to broadcast the urgent need to encourage the public to sign an Organ Donor Card and perhaps provide the Gift of Life to another. I say “perhaps,” because the circumstances required to make organs available for transplant are unique. A signed Donor Card is no guarantee that the gift can be made, BUT it is a vital step in the process.

There are various organizations in the USA and Canada who provide information to assist in taking that personal decision. One of these, The Coalition on Donation provides an interesting web site that is very helpful. They quote the following statistics:

·      More than 80,000 men, women and children currently await life-saving transplants.

·      Every 13 minutes another name is added to the national transplant waiting list.

·      An average of 17 people die each day from the lack of available organs for transplant.

·      In 2002, there were 6,185 deceased organ donors and 6,607 living organ donors resulting in 24,851 organ transplants.

·      46,625 cornea transplants were performed in 2002.

·      Nearly 900,000 tissue transplants were performed in 2002.

           There is so much good that could be said about successful transplantation of organs. There are the children born to parents who have survived transplant surgery to give birth, thanks to receiving the Gift of Life themselves through organ donation. There are those young people suffering from Cystic Fibrosis who are able to enjoy many years of active life following successful transplant. There are countless others who lead productive lives thanks to the thoughtfulness of another who chose to offer them self as a ‘giver of life.’                I can confidently say that NOBODY wants to belong to either “The ARDS Survivors Club,” or “The Organ Transplantees Club.” Being an ‘alumni’ of either of these groups means that both you and your loved ones have come through the darkest of valleys and have survived to tell the tale. It also means that you are strongly inclined to do what you can, using your own personal experience, to help others in similar crisis, and you are to be commended for these feelings and the resulting actions.

Problems are solved by directing resources at them and working diligently to find answers. The problem of the ARDS Syndrome, and illnesses like CF and Pulmonary Fibrosis can, and will only be resolved by cure when sufficient research has been carried out. We have the capability of finding the causes and cures for these life ending diseases, but it takes time and our $$$’s to fund the research. It also takes people like you and me who are prepared to make enough noise to generate an appreciation of the urgency for action. In addition, we need to generate interest within corporate bodies to invest some of their profits (earned  from our spending $$$’s with them) in helping to save lives, and acknowledge that there is no better action we or they can take, than to selflessly help others in this way.

April and May  herald the arrival of spring in North America, and we are blessed to see the grass become green again and the leaves return to the trees. It is a time of renewal of life seen in the arrival of lambs, and the nesting of the birds. Our world seems to take a deep breath, and birth new life wherever we may look. As God’s creation, we are a key part of this place we call home; a place that can be the proverbial ‘Paradise on Earth,’ if only we will live and act as we are called to do. For those of us who receive the ARDS Newsletter and who have read this article, we are probably already committed to taking action and being compassionate in our own individual ways. I encourage you to continue to be supportive of the ARDS Foundation, both in prayer; in informing others, and also through making financial donations. Working together we can and will make a difference. 

I’d like to leave you with these thoughts today:

“Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be a stronger person. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers, but pray for powers equal to your tasks.” (Phillips Brooks)

 

See you all next newsletter……..Pastor Ian.