Editorial June 21, 1975 Issue

To Dispel the Mystery of Death

Naomi Price

"Should I take the course on thanatology they're offering at school this year?" The question is increasingly asked, "Do you think one should learn about death and dying, as so many people are saying we should?"

It is said that the present-day interest in the subject of death and dying, or thanatology, is not caused so much by a fascination for the morbid as by a feeling of need to remove a veil of mystery and dread from a phase of existence that for mortals is apparently inevitable, and to make the consequences of death easier to endure.

But what is the position of one who accepts the teachings of Christ Jesus? He said, "If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death." John 8:51; Yet as we look back, we cannot help but admit that there is record of the deaths of some of the finest and most faithful of Jesus' followers. To be realistic, then, what should our attitude be? Should we shut our eyes to the human situation? Should we refuse to consider the subject at all? Or should we examine "the valley of the shadow of death," Ps. 23:4; as the Psalmist called it, and learn what lessons we can?

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