It is mind-boggling to think that it was less than fifty years ago that the medical profession and the world at large were still in the Dark Ages as far as talking openly about death and dying.
It was the combined and courageous efforts of Drs. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Dame Cecily Saunders [both now deceased], Balfour Mount, and Florence Wald, former dean of nursing at Yale University, who brought death and dying into the light of reason and compassion, and allowed people all over the world to die with dignity and surrounded by loved ones.
Prior to this awakening, our culture was so fearful of death that we lived in denial unable to face it, accept it and be open to understanding it was the natural result of being born. Now that we have eagerly embraced the information brought forth by these wonderful pioneers, we can look forward to even more exciting revelations.
I believe there is a deeper, more profound, and imminently knowable awareness awaiting us that includes the truth of how and why we enter and exit life on Earth. I also believe it will far surpass – beyond our wildest dreams and imaginings – the narrow and fatalistic view we still hold of the “beginning” and the “ending” of life.
This realization came to me as a result of the experience I had during my husband’s lengthy decline and death. I learned that death isn’t meant to be the most feared natural life event. It is meant to be a sacred, life affirming, spiritually enlightening event.
Because of my close association during those years with my dear friend Dr. Kübler-Ross, the world expert on death and dying, I realized that my experience was a result of the work she and her colleagues brought forward. Their gift to humanity empowered me and, hopefully, countless others to take another step toward a clearer understanding of death and dying.
I was determined to assist my beloved husband on his final life journey in a way I had never heard of or read about. Unable to do it on my own, I finally turned within. Eventually, I was successful in opening to a connection with the eternal and sublime energy within us, which we call God. With this connection, I gained the love, support, wisdom and guidance that were so desperately needed.
After completing the full mourning, I realized that I had no lingering sadness, no guilt, and was filled with a boundless joy, a reaffirmation of life and a heightened anticipation of the future. I knew this was diametrically opposed to what many people experience in similar situations, and that is why I wrote the book The Heart Knows the Way – How to Follow Your Heart to a Conscious Connection with the Divine Spirit Within. Dr. Kübler-Ross read the manuscript, and gave the book her highest commendation.
I believe that as humanity continues to open to an expanded awareness of death and dying, the mysteries will be resolved, and we will know our rightful place in the ongoing flow of life. This will free us from our fear—and open the way to living fully, which will allow us to die in a way that celebrates the incredible and glorious gift of life.
[To assist you in realizing a connection with God-Good, go to author’s Web site at www.FernStewartWelch.com, click on How-to Lists, then Connect with God.]
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Copyright 2008 by Fern Stewart Welch
The author’s book THE HEART KNOWS THE WAY—How to Follow Your Heart to a Conscious Connection with the Divine Spirit Within is available at Amazon.com and other online booksellers, as well as through major bookstores such as Barnes & Noble and Borders.
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