In contending against advance directives for end-of-life care, Meilander argues that it's okay to be a burden to your family members when you're dying. That's the nature of human relationshipw: they're interconnected. We bear one another's burdens all the time. It's how we live as families and as Christians.
At the end of the article, Meilander distinguishes between two questions. "What would he have wanted?" is futile. We can never know the answer. Asking that question is an unnecessary burden. Loved ones should rather ask, "What is best for him now?" or "What can we do to benefit the life he still has?" Answering those questions is a necessary and good burden.
