How We Die

Reflections on Life's Final Chapter

Just finished reading How We Die by Sherwin B. Nuland. In this compelling and deeply moving book, Nuland eloquently describes the various processes by which our bodies inevitably age and die. His ability to blend clinical accuracy with a profound compassion transforms what is too often a painful and much-avoided topic into a natural unfolding and ultimately a celebration of the human spirit.

"We have been given the miracle of life because trillions upon trillions of living things have prepared the way for us and then have died - in a sense, for us. We die, in turn, so that others may live. The tragedy of a single individual becomes, in the balance of natural things, the triumph of ongoing life."

"The dignity that we seek in dying must be found in the dignity with which we have lived our lives. Ars moriendi is ars vivendi: The art of dying is the art of living. The honesty and grace of the years of life that are ending is the real measure of how we die. It is not in the last weeks or days that we compose the message that will be remembered, but in all the decades that preceded them."

Gone from mystery into mystery
Gone from daylight into night
Another step deeper into darkness
Closer to the light
- Bruce Cockburn

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