Essays In Pastoral MedicineWalsh, James J. (James Joseph)
Religion
Essays In Pastoral Medicine
Walsh, James J. (James Joseph)
First aid in illness and injury; Medicine
On the other hand, among young people especially, it has been noted
that there is frequently an imitative element in suicides. Three or
four suicides, practically with the same details, will occur, within a
few days of each other. Suicides at all ages are especially likely to
occur in groups, and are often cited to exemplify the truth of the old
axiom that evils never come singly. It is especially among young
people, however, that this relationship to previous suicides can be
traced, and there is no doubt that it is the unfortunate publicity
given to suicide, with the consequent suggestive influence, which
constitutes the most important factor in these cases. All the
influence that clergymen can exert, then, must be wielded to suppress
this, as well as the many other evils which flow from sensational
journalism.
JAMES J. WALSH.
{135}
XI
UNEXPECTED DEATH
Unexpected death and its problems constitute the principal reason why
there should be a pastoral medicine, and why the clergyman must keep
himself in close touch with advances in medicine. To have an ailing
member of a congregation die unexpectedly, that is, without the rites
of the Church, when perhaps there has been some warning as to the
possibility of such an accident, can not but be a source of the
gravest concern in pastoral work. Sudden death can be anticipated in
many diseases that are acute, while in chronic forms of disease the
sufferer can be prepared for its possibility by the administration of
the sacraments at regular intervals. There is, however, an old proverb
which says that death always comes unexpectedly; and even with all the
modern advance in medicine, this still contains a modicum of truth. As
an unprepared death is an occasion of the most poignant regret to the
friends of the deceased and to the attending clergyman, it is with the
idea of furnishing some data by which the occurrence of death without
due anticipation may be rendered more infrequent, that the following
medical points on the possibilities of a fatal termination in certain
diseases have been brought together. Unfortunately, even with all our
progress in modern medicine, they must be far from adequate for all
cases.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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