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{"id":1191,"date":"2024-06-13T09:54:34","date_gmt":"2024-06-13T15:54:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reliabletruth\/2024\/06\/safe-passage-part-ii\/"},"modified":"2024-06-13T09:54:34","modified_gmt":"2024-06-13T15:54:34","slug":"safe-passage-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reliabletruth\/2024\/06\/safe-passage-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Safe Passage: Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I wrote the book, Safe Passage: Thinking Clearly about Life & Death<\/em>, back in 2006. It was originally published in hardback and we have just now released a paperback version. This is Part 2 of three blogs and is an excerpt from Chapter 4. You can find Safe Passage<\/em> on Amazon<\/a> and our website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

The fourth chapter of the book is titled, \u201cThe Logic of Life.\u201d In it I point out how we as humans should not be willing to tolerate the fear and anxiety associated with death. We need to make peace with our mortality so that we can live well as the years go by.<\/p>\n

C.S. Lewis<\/a> suggests that there is only one legitimate means of making peace with our mortality\u2014we must take action by preparing for it. We must face the truth, assigning death to its rightful place . . . and we must do so without once giving up hope in an imperfect world that so often bears down on us.<\/em><\/p>\n

At some point in our life\u2019s journey\u2014in close community with family and friends, in busy and scattered workplaces across the globe, in sacred places of reflection and commu\u00adnion\u2014we will inevitably reach a clear and present under\u00adstanding that no matter how hard we might try, we are not going to find peace in ignorance or anxious concern.<\/em><\/p>\n

As mature, responsible adults, we will come to recognize that those who continue to live in defiance and fear have no prospect of experiencing the rich promises of life.<\/em><\/p>\n

Paul Brand<\/a> spent most of his professional life study\u00ading pain in the human body as he lived and worked among people afflicted with leprosy. He regularly witnessed the death of his patients. He concluded after years of research that the attitude we cultivate in advance of suffering and death will determine how it will affect us once it comes our way.<\/em><\/p>\n

In the 1990s, the Public Broadcasting System aired a very serious and moving documentary called \u201cDying,\u201d directed and produced by Michael Roemer. In the film, Roemer, who had obtained permission from the patient\u2019s families, spent time with several terminally ill cancer victims during their last months of life. The director made this observation af\u00adter the filming, \u201cPeople die in the way they have lived. Death becomes the expression of everything you are, and you can bring to it only what you have brought to life.\u201d The documen\u00adtary reveals that those who have prepared for death discover that their final days can be some of life\u2019s greatest moments.<\/em><\/p>\n

After all, isn\u2019t in the recognition and acceptance of death\u2019s reality that we discover the true meaning of hope? The awesome prospect of death shapes and informs our full appreciation of the great value of life.<\/em><\/p>\n

However, realistically speaking, is it truly possible to \u201cjoy\u00adfully anticipate death,\u201d as C.S. Lewis would have us believe? Can we honestly reflect and come to terms with mortality so that we can live with a joyful experience of the present and still maintain an optimistic view of the future?<\/em><\/p>\n

Can we rationally and realistically hope to arrive at that place in our lives where our uncertain, shadowy perspec\u00adtives on living and dying are genuinely transformed?<\/em><\/p>\n

Of course, we all yearn for a life-shaping certainty that will prepare us for what lies ahead. We are not looking for some vague pie-in-the-sky, wish-fulfillment fantasy, but rather, a reality that actively shapes our future\u2014a vigorous hope which the prospect of death cannot destroy. A hope which promises to transform fear into peace\u2014into \u201cjoyful anticipation.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Is it possible?<\/em><\/p>\n

If you read this book you will find the means to make peace with your mortality.<\/p>\n

Richard\u00a0E Simmons III<\/a>\u00a0is the founder and Executive Director of\u00a0The Center for Executive Leadership<\/a>\u00a0and a\u00a0best-selling author<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I wrote the book, Safe Passage: Thinking Clearly about Life & Death, back in 2006. It was originally published in hardback and we have just now released a paperback version. This is Part 2 of three blogs and is an excerpt from Chapter 4. You can find Safe Passage on Amazon and our website. ***** […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4537,"featured_media":1194,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nSafe Passage: Part II<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I wrote the book, Safe Passage: Thinking Clearly about Life & Death, back in 2006. It was originally published in hardback and we have just now released a paperback version. This is Part 2 of three blogs and is an excerpt from Chapter 4. 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