Sunday, May 9, 2010

Living out our last days

"Death comes to us all," Thomas More reminds the court that is about to condemn him, and — barring the end of time — so it does. William Doino Jr., reviewing a book by a man dying of cancer, Jeffry Hendrix's A Little Guide For Your Last Days, reminds us that "we are all, inescapably, living out our last days—even if we don’t yet know the number of them." From the review:
.... Death used to be at the forefront of man’s consciousness. Memento mori, the Latin phrase meaning “remember you must die,” was woven into our cultural fabric, as was the supernatural awareness of our dependency: “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”  ....

.... Anyone who has ever lost a close relative or friend knows what the immediate days and weeks afterward are like, with feelings of intense pain, isolation, disbelief, and an acute awareness of the fragility of life. Hendrix underwent a similar experience after his diagnosis, except that in his case it was because he was losing himself and his attachments to this world. He has emerged with a renewed appreciation for the gifts he once took for granted—family, friends, faith, and (shortened) life—for even as his “outer nature is wasting away” his soul is “being renewed every day.” .... [more]
Exit Strategy | The Weekly Standard

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