The Art of Dying
Mark Labberton
July 1, 2007
People die like they live. Of course, some diseases and some treatments can change personalities, but barring that, people seem to face death like they face life. On the Saturday before Easter, I anxiously made my way to the apparent deathbed of Art, a beloved, 90-year-old brother in Christ. He has lived with great thanksgiving in the midst of decaying health for a very long time. This, following decades as a middle school administrator, clearly showed him to be made of special stuff. Following the late-night shuttling now so common in the jigsaw of medical care, I eventually found him in a different and remote rehab hospital. As I turned from the rather depressing hallway into his room, Art was alone, lying askew on the bed, uncovered, his breathing strained. Art smiled. His eyes, now heavy, still twinkled. "Thank you so much for coming," he sighed. I kissed his forehead as I whispered how glad I was to be with him. I said, "Art, it seems like this is pretty close to the end, time for your passing into the very presence of the Lord." His response? "You're doing a great job." I gasped. He smiled. "Art, I appreciate your words, but if there was ever a moment with you that is not about me, this is it." We went on to talk about his death, about his deep readiness to finish this chapter and to step into the next. No hurry, but also no clinging, no whining, no self-pity. We prayed and trusted. Now, I am fairly sure that, over the decades I have known Art, I have never had a conversation in which he didn't express thanksgiving about someone or something. It was the way he had always lived. Now it was the way he was dying. If our living is an act of denial, or a disguised effort at desperate avoidance, or a display of greedy consumption, ...
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