Allowing Love Ones to Die a Good Death

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Kaufman’s chapter on “Transforming Time” presented many truths most of do not want to think about. Even though we all know the inevitably of death; most of us cling to life. This is not an unusual phenomenon, but what is compelling is the perception of death. Allowing your loved one to die a “good” death verses a “bad” one. The author presented two illustrations of families faced with a loved one who is dying. One such illustration was Mrs. Brown and her husband. Mrs. Brown who had “been married fifty-six years” noted her husband was “the only thing I have.” (page 111) In making this statement she acknowledged that she wanted to hold on to him for as long as she could. The perplexing element arises, when asked by the medical team, what life sustaining measures to take; her response was “I’ll leave it to God’s will.” Unfortunately, for a medical team this is not a definitive response. The uncertainty of what to do still lingers. This leads me to ask a very simple, yet a very profound question: When faced with a decision such as this, do we as Christians truly leave the d...

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