Death with Dignity

October 10, 2014, by Todd Neva

“Man, with terminal disease, chooses to die slowly, with dignity, at the hour when God decides he shall take his last breath, his body wasted away, but the value of his life intact.”

That may never be news, but it describes the dignified death many men and women have chosen, and many men and women have yet to choose. But dog bites man is not news; man bites dog is.

It saddens me when anyone would choose to take his own life, but I would not question his faith or pretend to know what he should feel. We can mourn for him, have empathy for him, but let’s not celebrate that decision. Let’s not slip down the slope of saying that dignity comes from avoiding pain and suffering.

Pain and suffering is part of the human experience. Human life has value, and there is dignity in living through each part of the human experience. Our honor and respect should be bestowed on those who see life to its natural end.

“It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.” Ecclesiastes 7:2

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