Religion: The Easy Death

Christians are having a hard time dying these days as Christians, rather than as pets “put to sleep” by the vet. Such sedated forms of death are the subject of and outrages article in The Living Church by the Rev. Ralph P. Brooks Jr., rector of St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh. When a patient is operated on and found fatally ravaged by cancer, doctors are often inclined to assure with a him (and perhaps his wife as well) their that he fatherthat he will recover. In the case of non-Christians, Pastor Brooks has no quarrel with his benevolent deceit: “There is no merit in trying to force a Christian death on non-Christian life . . . But why must such a death be turned into needless defeat in the case of the faithful? When a devout man demands to know the truth s othat he can face death victoriously, must we join his family in pretending this burning pain in his abdomen will disappear?For one thing, such a sufferer may feel cut off from his family, unable to admit or what he suspects. “He can’t turn to them, or lean on them; he can’t ask their forgiveness; he can’t set his affairs in order or say the words, or pray the prayers or cry the tears that must be shed because all of this can only be done when he is permitted the luxury of facing his death.” The clergymen administering to such a case “must speak guardedly of death as if it is years away; he must administer the Sacrament with no indication that this is probably the last time for confession, absolution, and real peace with God; he must see the mind that fades from narcotics is unable to perceive or react to any assurance about a fuller life.” The only answer to the problem,Pasta Brooks feels, is in long-range preparation of Christians for their time of death. We must plant the seeds of understanding of death . . . so that our people will see it for what it is and will choose to help the person they love . . . die victoriously, with trust and confidence, instead of curled up alone in agony and fear . . . “I will not argue with a grieving family about to lose thier father, but I must speak out to someone; be warned; prevent this ‘easy’ death of despair and frustration; teach, plant seeds of understanding and faith; because this unnecessary defeat, this denial of what we are, this negation of our victory is heartbreaking.”