Against the Backdrop of Brokenness

Every so often when reading, a particular idea will catch your eye: there is a certain turn of phrase, a certain idea that resonates on that day. Come back some other day, it may not read the same way. But recently I was reading in the book of Isaiah, and I ran across a verse that caught my attention.

“No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days…”  Isaiah 65:20a (ESV)

One of the unfortunate realities of working in the emergency department is dealing with death. It seems like an obvious statement that death is a part of life.  And as a physician who deals with all stages of life, death is one of those things that I encounter on a regular basis. But even then, it is an uncomfortable reality. There is a finality to it that is unrecoverable.  And when we face the death of a patient, it reminds us that we are mortal - that someday too we will follow in the same path.

When the individual before us that dies is an aged, 90-year-old, it makes sense. Somehow the tragedy seems to be slightly less or at least contextualized into something that we can understand. But the unfortunate reality is that this is not always the case. From time-to-time, we are faced with the death of a patient who ought not to have died - whether through illness or injury. From time-to-time, these patients are children.

I’ve been involved in resuscitations in the emergency department on a regular basis. There is a palpable sense that it is a fight; a fight against the claws of an unseen enemy that is trying to suffocate the last evidence of life. In some cases, the enemy has overwhelmed the battle space, and the only appropriate response is to acknowledge defeat.

But other times the fight is real and aggressive.  And when the patient is a child, the fight becomes significantly more intense. We work harder. We try longer. There is a certain innocence that is lost and a palpable reality that this event is an affront to all that ought to be and all that is good.

In these situations, nothing is more sad than to acknowledge defeat, declare the time of death, and stare down at the lifeless body of someone who shares the same age or station in life as one of your children. Being a parent has heightened the sense of tragedy and a sense of wrongness when a child dies in the ED.

It is this feeling, this reality, this perception that made Isaiah 65:20 leap off the page when I ran across it. In this chapter, the prophet Isaiah is foretelling a coming day when God will restore all things, when all that is wrong will be made right, when his creation shall be made new. He is looking to a day where his created order will be restored.  And the brokenness of sin, death, and decay will be defeated.

How does he describe that day? “No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days.” It is an encouraging reality for all of us. It is something longed for.  And for those of us who work in emergency services, who care for the sick and the dying on a regular basis, our presence in the resuscitation bay, witnessing the brokenness and decay around us, creates the backdrop that allows this verse to stand out.

We can look with hope and look with anticipation that someday this will not be our reality.  The apostle Paul reflects this posture in Romans 8:18-19 (ESV),

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.”