Why Does God Take The Good People?

Did you ever wonder why God takes the good people?

Truth revealed: I don’t know. 

But… I have an idea.

I was shocked this week, like many others, when I heard the news that Dr. Edward Klein from Hawthorn Medical and St. Anne’s Hospital had died.

First I read a post on Facebook from someone who said, “I just heard….” My media training always kicks in in times like this and I insist on confirming. I did a simple Google search and couldn’t find anything besides Dr. Klein’s bio and articles that had been written about him. Then I remembered we had a friend who used to work at Hawthorn so my wife texted her and, sure enough, she confirmed that she had heard the news from former co-workers. Just a few minutes later Hawthorn posted a release with the shocking news.

I posted this on my Facebook page:

“I’m just hearing the news that Dr. Edward Klein from Hawthorne Medical passed away this morning. He took care of me a number of times and was not only a good surgeon but a very nice man. I got the sense that he truly cared about me and I was not just another patient. Your presence will be terribly missed.”

Many people commented about how they had also had Dr. Klein as their surgeon and they had similar experiences.

I first met Ed Klein in 2006 I believe. At the time I was having terrible pain in my knee and the doctor I was sent to couldn’t find anything wrong with my knee. I knew something was wrong because it hurt like hell! When I asked for another opinion, my General Practitioner (GP) at the time suggested Dr. Klein. He x rayed my knee and also couldn’t find anything wrong but he was determined to find the cause because I was obviously in pain. It turns out the problem was in my hip and the pain was radiating down to my knee. He replaced my hip and….the pain was gone!

I’ve written before about how I have a metabolic disorder known as Alkaptonuria. Dr. Klein was one of the few doctors I have met in my life who was familiar with the disease and found it very interesting. That appointment in 2006 was the start of a long journey and a friendship with a very nice man. He went on to replace both of my hips and both of my knees and when I ruptured my Achilles tendon several years ago he actually called me and started the conversation with, “What did you do now?”

Dr. Klein was a huge Yankee fan and that led to some fun trash talk over the years. When I woke up after that first hip surgery he said, “I hope you don’t mind. I put in the replacement part that had pinstripes!”

When I mentioned Dr. Klein’s passing on the radio Friday, I made it a point to say that he always made me feel like I was the most important thing he had to do at that moment. In this age of health care where it seems the doctor has no more than nine minutes to spend with you before he has to move on to the next patient I never felt rushed. If I had questions, he tried to answer them and never left the room until he was sure I understood what we were going to do.

I will always remember after I had my stroke in 2016 and I was laying in bed at St. Luke’s Hospital he came and sat with me one evening. I know he didn’t happen to just have surgery in the building at the time because he was no longer operating out of St. Luke’s, he was strictly at St. Anne’s. Again, he seemed to be in no rush that night. We sat and talked about life and what might be next. 

I didn’t know much about him personally. Now I wish I did. I just knew some little things about his life that he would share at times.

I’ve been reading hundreds of comments from other people who were touched by Dr. Klein. True, not everyone was a fan. I personally know a couple of people who did not have a good experience with him and I can understand that. I’m sure there were many circumstances involved. You can’t please everyone. There was a time in my life when I tried to please everyone. Boy I’m glad I outgrew that! What a waste of time THAT was!

Dr. Klein was just a nice man who, as far as I knew, tried his best to help people.

So…. why does God take the good people? Again, I don’t know for sure. Can anybody? However, I will leave you with the words from a former minister and friend.

Some 30 or 40 years ago my wife, Priscilla, and I lost someone very dear to us in a horrible boating accident. Priscilla asked him that exact question: “Why does God take the good people?” The Rev. Earl Miller told us, “God takes the bad people too, but no one cares as much.” That has always stayed with me.

Is that true? Is the reason we miss them so much because we cared so much?

I don’t know if that’s the answer but it’s the one I hold on to in times like this.

I do know one thing: I’m going to cherish the good people in my life and let them know that I appreciate them while I still can. What do you say? Join me in that effort?

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