Recent ‘Dying to know’ event

I read with interest in the Phoenix 27th Au­gust of a recent ‘Dying to know’ event held at the Canowindra Bowlo on the 13th Au­gust. I am sure that there was lots of prac­tical and helpful information shared by a range of people and organisations with genuine empathic concern for those con­fronted with end-of-life issues. Great idea! Information and education can be worth more than gold! While not intending to take anything away from all those who did contribute it appeared to me that one institution who should have been represented was con­spicuously absent. The fact that it was not represented says as much about that in­stitution itself as it does about the modern society we now live in and that’s sad be­cause that institution should always have relevance and it should always have some­thing important to add to such a discussion.

Since the earliest days of Australian set­tlement history shows the Christian church has been at the forefront of trying to im­prove the lives of Australians through es­tablishing places of education, humanitar­ian welfare, social justice, hospitals, aged care facilities etc. They did not always get it right, and there have been some terrible abuses and injustices committed under the banner of ‘religion’ by despicable scoun­drels but there was a time when the Church served the community in such ways without any financial rewards and the old school minister was in part a ‘death doula’ as he pastorally cared for believer and unbeliever alike.

Most people would agree that we are three-fold beings having a mind, body and spirit or soul. The bible declares that the body returns to the elements from which its made, that is, it will break down to dust but the soul returns to God because He gave it.

The bible also states that God has placed eternity in the hearts of people, mean­ing that this life that we now participate in is not the end, there is an afterlife, and it informs its readers how to prepare their soul for that afterlife. Furthermore, it has valuable advice on how to best deal with other issues like pain, grief, loss, suffering, anger etc so that life can be meaningful and purposeful even when surrounded by death rather than barely endured with over­whelming hopelessness and despair.

The Bible says that the Christian church as an institution is supposed to be the keeper of truth which means it should al­ways have something important to add to any discussion especially regarding living and dying. Nobody has to agree with it but its long-held beliefs should be part of the discussion for they are both historically sig­nificantly and prophetically important to the culture in which we live and the hope with which we can die.

Bruce Capps