Is It Loose?

"Is it Loose?"

BY DR. CHARLES L. OLSEN

An old Scotchman, now deceased, who was almost totally deaf, but a faithful, unassuming Latter-day Saint, possessing the gift of healing to a remarkable degree, used to ask the above quoted question, almost invariably, before engaging in administer- ing to the sick.

Entering the room where, for instance, the mother, awaiting the arrival of the elders, sat with her sick child in her arms, this venerable old man, so full of faith and sympathy, with out- stretched hands would most imploringly say to the anxious parent : "Aye, aye, sister, is it loose — is it loose, between thee and the Lord?" The meaning was clear.

One whose daily duties call him to the bedside of the sick has ample opportunity to observe how very few indeed could un- qualifiedly answer the grave question in the affirmative, when a dear one is suffering from disease, or is racked with pain.

It is sad to see a fellow-being confined to his bed of affliction. Naturally, the fight for life is the most desperate imaginable ; and, as a rule, no means are spared in order to gain the victory. Life must be sweet and worth the living to most of us, judging from the tenacity with which the average* mortal clings to his earthly tabernacle.

Most civilized people dread the separation from loved ones, through death, or, rather, the transition from this life to another. With many, even the thought is well-nigh unbearable. And in this regard, strange to say, the strongest and otherwise most intrepid are often the weakest and most timorous, when the test comes.

Faith in an overruling Providence — that "gift of God" — is often nowadays sidetracked instead of supplemented by the knowl- edge and skill of trained physicians and surgeons. And when these ministering angels are employed to look after a case of sick- ness or injury, those employing them do so with the implied ex- pectation that perfect restoration shall follow — there should be no ifs or buts about that.

As time goes on and knowledge fills the earth "as the waters cover the sea," there is, apparently, a tendency — at least among those possessing a smattering of secular learning — to become more and more independent of any unseen power. Erudition, self-

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sufficiency, and the modern "business" spirit replace, to a great extent, the old-time, humble, child-like reliance on the Father, the Giver of good things (Matt. 7, 11), the source of life and the fountain of health.

In times past, Satan was blamed for everything that did not go exactly to our liking — in case of sickness, for instance. And many there are now, especially among those who are strong, physically, spiritually, or both, who, when called upon to exercise "faith" in behalf of a sick fellow-being, go at it in "business" fashion, challenging, as it were, the arch enemy and assuming an attitude of defiance at nature, or nature's workings, demand noth- ing short of an absolute surrender of the intruder — disease.

There are, in fact, not many who, like our Scotch brother, put the question fairly and squarely, "is it loose?" No doubt too many of us, when imploring divine aid, say in our hearts like Luther said, when about to engage on his matrimonial venture : "Thy will be done, O Lord, but give me my Catherine."

Trusting in man and making flesh their arm, overestimating the truly wonderful achievements in medicine and surgery, and depending mainly on human skill, with its subtle agencies for good, some may fancy that death, ere long, no more shall reap its harvest among the children of men.

Paradoxical as it may seem, it must follow, however, that the greater the advances in medical skill, the more people must die, literally and inevitably so. Why? Because medical science, surgery and all inventions the human mind can possibly bring forth, — working together for the good of mankind — can never accomplish more than to prolong life — to postpone the time of death, so-called.

Death has always claimed its greatest contingent from the ranks of infants and children in general; but more of these pre- cious lives may now, or hereafter, by timely aid and proper living, be spared to grow up to manhood and womanhood and — accord- ing to the laws of nature — to propagate their species, as an allwise Creator intended. Hence, inasmuch as more people might be born (if fashion will permit), more, necessarily, will have to die, since all men must die — or be "changed in the twinkling of an eye."

Meanwhile, the faithful know that, "the Lord is righteous in all his ways," and they may take comfort in the thought that one sparrow, even, "shall not fall on the ground without your Father."

MURRAY, UTAH

(Essays on many topics, religious, ethical, social, and economic, will appear in Vol. 17, Improvement Era.)