MY ANSWER

By Billy Graham

Editor's note. The following appeared in the Wichita Eagle newspaper September 4.

DEAR REV. GRAHAM: Why do so many people resist the idea of assisted suicide for a person who is chronically ill and has no hope of recovery? It sounds like a good option, and I wouldn't want to keep on living if I were in that condition. - - C.L.

Dear C.L.: The main reason is because God gave life to us, and only He has the right to take it away. Life is a sacred gift from God. We are not here by chance or by accident; God put us here. Just as He put us here, He alone has the authority to take us away, and when we take that authority into our own hands, we do violence to His all-wise purposes. Life is not to be destroyed at random.

No one in the Bible suffered more than Job (except Jesus on the cross), and yet never once did he consider taking matters into his own hands and ending his life. The most important thing I can say is although we may suffer, the Christian knows that this life is not all. Ahead of us is Heaven.