Dying with Grace

Book excerpt: This is a book about living, even as one is dying. It is a book about the choices we make: choosing spiritual risk rather than security; choosing surrender to a hunger for God, rather than hanging on to life or fighting death. It is a book on how the quality of ones relationships with God, creation, self, and others can either help or hinder the dying process. Living well does indeed contribute to dying well. Dying with Grace: a Conscious Commitment to the Dying Process is the story of Franks ability to let go of control, enjoy his last days, and move toward the unknown and unknowable. Though alert in mind and spirit, Franks body was as good as paralyzed. Yet he remained curious about walking through the valley of death, leaning into the process with dignity and grace. Experiencing pain and suffering, joy and love, he lived life immersed in the rhythm of nature, and died in that same rhythm. To the very end, he never lost consciousness. Dying with Grace is written as a reflective text for family members who are caring for dying relatives; for parish workers, nurses, and social workers assisting individuals and families during the dying process. The book sheds light on what it means to die as one lives and invites the reader to contemplate just how the dying experience may be spiritually transformative for both family and friends as well as for the one who is passing. The frightened, the skeptical, the devastated, the hope-filled, faith believers and non-believers alike can benefit from this book.