Living And Dying With Dignity Summary

S. Kay Tommbs presentation “Living and Dying with Dignity,” focused on the worth and dignity of the those who are dying from an illness. It covered the importance of maintaining both worth and dignity in an inevitable ending, being death.

Tommbs presentation was a harsh reality, she began with the topic of assisted suicide. This is when a person that is near the time of death, due to illness or old age decides to end their life with the hope of easing their pain for their loved one. By considered and performing suicide it is form of control, which at this point maybe the only form of control that is left. Tommbs view on this issue is that this is incorrect because of both biblical beliefs, and the understanding the death is not something that we can dodge but

She had this will to live, a will that was able to give her strength until the last moment. I would love to believe that the strength within her was a form of love, love towards her me, and the rest of the family.

The issue of worth was a large portion of her presentation. Worth is very important to not only find within oneself, but also to share between each other. According to her, the people surrounding the sick person should be protecting their worth. But, what does one do when a person is no longer able to care for themselves? How do we maintain their worth? She gave a powerful answer, our worth is to be found in christ himself.

Towards the end of Tommbs presentation, she connected the subject to a christian belief. Knowing that death is inevitable, along with having faith should not be something feared, instead it should be looked as a reward. Once worth is understood in the concept coming from the salvation by Jesus, would death be looked a different? It is understanding that death is associated with fear since it is the unknown, but would be different if the principles of Tommbs were