FAILURE TO THRIVE

Then he said it. I felt something akin to a shockwave go through me. My nagging, reflexive hunch had been accurate. I’ll explain: The preacher was sharing an enumeration of collateral damage done by the COVID virus, particularly by the restrictions imposed because of it. He noted things like the tragic exponential increase in suicide rates (In Japan, more have died of suicide in one month than the entire time of COVID). Then he said it: “There’s a new cause being given on death certificates for non-COVID related deaths, ‘Failure to thrive.’” That’s when the shockwave went through me: This past summer my father, a resident of a nursing home facility passed away. We had been told at the time that the reason was “failure to thrive.” I remember my reacting with “I haven’t heard that for deaths of the elderly before. Usually, you hear that given as a cause of a child’s death.” Child deaths from congenital or environmental causes of malnourishment are often described as “failure to thrive.” (I surmise that this reason was listed as a cause of such adult deaths prior to COVID but became more frequently and noticeably employed since.) When I later received my father’s death certificate, there it was “a. failure to thrive.” I blog about this, not to fault any worker or facility, not to affix blame, not to attribute causes, but because I am moved and disturbed by the thought and have been personally, deeply affected by it. What I share is just the reality—anecdotally and statistically; thousands have been dying in nursing homes and not just from COVID, and not just from usual causes at usual rates. It is estimated that for every two COVID related deaths in nursing homes that there is one death from either neglect or despair attributable to the isolation brought on by restrictions and quarantine measures taken because of the virus. It must be noted that even before COVID hit many of these facilities were understaffed, with workers already plagued by being overworked and underpaid. COVID only compounded these problems—at the expense of residents. The COVID-necessitated shutdowns precipitated contingent problems one wouldn’t have imagined. For example, as a rule, dentists were not allowed into the homes. Consequently, dentures could not be adjusted nor natural teeth repaired. Residents with dental problems could not eat properly and became malnourished. Hugely contributing to residents’ health was the dark mental state brought on by the shutdowns. Isolated from family members and others, residents were plunged into mental despair, hopelessness, and despondency from a lack of stimulating interaction. Again, without alleging or assigning blame, the new conditions and demands of the shutdown and care of patients with COVID frequently led to the neglect of the basic needs of non-COVID patients. Because of these factors, these residents began to die. The reason for their deaths was often documented as “failure to thrive.” These deaths are tragic and sad—as you might understand--in a particularly personal way to me. My melancholy over these “failure to thrive” deaths reminds me we are not a creation with only biological life; we also have potential of spiritual life. At this point I’m shifting from the grieving Son of an aged father who passed away because of failure to thrive to Pastor who has seen the same thing happen spiritually to folks. Their spiritual life ended because of “failure to thrive”. I reveal my theological underpinnings, but I have seen those who were born-again fail to thrive. They had nascent spiritual life. Or, perhaps, they had matured spiritual life. Either way, that life ended. Failure to thrive. Jesus spoke of failure to thrive in His parable of the Sowed Seed. That sown on the wayside never really germinated on the hard ground. It was prime picking for the birds. Spiritual life was precluded. That which was sown in rocky soil germinated life. Short-lived life. It never put down deep roots. The sun was hot. The trials hard. It died. Failure to thrive. The seed among thorns, it germinated and grew. It appeared to thrive. But, so did the thorns close around it. The thorns thrived more. They, the thorns, the cares of this life, the deceitfulness of riches, choked the plant sprouted from the seed. The plant died. Failure to thrive. Now the seed sowed in the good soil germinated. Grew. Thrived. No failure there. I cannot venture into an exegesis of this parable, but I simply cannot accept a predestinationist interpretation of the life from the seed not thriving. In application, I cannot believe, if the soil is the condition of a person’s heart, that a person has no choice in the state of the condition of his heart, of his response to the Word. Also, I cannot ignore the possible larger environment of the soil, which is the climate around the soil--the individual’s heart. There is the condition of one’s heart itself, and there’s the environment in which one’s heart dwells. In reference to the former, one can be in an environment conducive to thriving spiritually. He can attend a good church with vibrant worship, poignant, truthful Word, loving fellowship. And, yet, not thrive. He chooses not to partake of the available nourishment. In reference to the latter, if one finds himself willfully existing in an environment not conducive to his spiritual life, he should choose to get himself out and away from it and to an environment where he can thrive. If getting out of such a climate not-conducive-to-life is impossible, say, it is his home, his school, his work, God is able to make him thrive even there through compensatory grace. In the end, because of the prevailing, proffered goodness and grace of God, there is no reason for one’s spiritual life to end. There is no need to put down the cause of the death of the spiritual life of one’s soul, “failure to thrive.” Not in God’s house. Not in God’s care. Not in God’s presence.

FAILURE TO THRIVE

Contact

Follow Us