Embracing Your Death with Faith and Dignity
“‘You are dust and to dust you shall return.’”
“You are dust and to dust you shall return” is said as pastors place ashes on the forehead of those who attend Ash Wednesday services. I’ve often said that one of the most uncomfortable actions I take as a pastor is saying the words “You are dust and to dust you shall return,” while placing the ashes on the forehead of a child. Confirming life’s finitude with someone so young and innocent is painful to consider. Yet, I believe, as people of faith, we must recognize and prepare for our death. Recognizing our mortality allows us to live faithfully and to die with dignity and hope.
In her book The Lost Art of Dying, Dr. Lydia S. Dugdale, MD, writes that medical facilities and doctors focus primarily on saving lives rather than on death’s reality. Further, Dr. Dugdale, a Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center, claims that along with doctors’ commitment to saving lives, “We humans are wired to survive; we want to take the chance for life.” Unfortunately, according to Dr. Dugdale, too often individuals do anything to sustain life in the short term, even as we embrace our finite lifespan and focus on dying well.
Dr. Dugdale confirms that previous generations were more prepared to contemplate death’s reality. We did not live as long. Dr. Dugdale states, “Worldwide average life expectancy increased from 52.5 years in 1960 to 72.2 years in 2017. In the United States, the average hovers around 79 years. In 1960, 12.2 percent of babies worldwide died before the age of one; by 2017, that number had fallen to 2.9 percent.” Dugdale continues, “Our technology is governed by the theory of planned obsolescence.” American society strives to find the right medicine that will provide eternally youthful lives.
Sadly, even the faithful struggle to accept their mortality. Dugdale states, “A recent Harvard study found that patients with high levels of support from their religious communities are more likely to choose aggressive life support and to die in intensive-care units. They were also less likely to enroll in hospice.” Only God can sustain our lives eternally. Struggling to let go, hanging on beyond a meaningful quality of life level, hurts not only the dying person but also those they love. We are called to embrace our mortality so that we can prepare ourselves and others for our earthly death. Preparing ourselves and others allows us to die with dignity and affirms our faithful trust in God’s promise of life eternal. When you prepare for your funeral, talk about life after you die, and make other post-life plans, you are modeling faithful living, dying, and living again. Embrace your dust, so you can embrace life eternal with the God who will carry you to your eternal home.
