I received a complementary copy of this book for review purposes. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.
Many years ago my wife and I attended a Lutheran church where the minister told us a story of one of his past parishioners. A young mother was about to lose her husband to cancer. Our minister said he prayed with the family, and there came a time where he uttered the words, “Come, comforting death.” “Isn’t death a bad thing??” I wondered at the time. The idea of death being comforting was alien to me.
I thought of the minister’s words when reading Jane Hughes Gignoux’s new book, “An Insistence on Life: Releasing Fear of Death to Fully Live”. It’s a wonderful collection of stories of people facing death, or the death of a loved one, in transformative ways. “(These stories) point to the wonder-filled truth that is so often lost in today’s materialistic society,” Gignoux believes, “life and death are inextricably connected to one another. Their dance is never ending, and the melody is pure love.”
I was inspired by the various accounts of people facing their own deaths with ease and grace. A woman about to succumb to lung cancer writes a letter to her family and friends filled with optimism. “Of course we don’t know what lies ahead,” she feels, “but I trust it is something to look forward to where we will build upon our efforts here.” Reading these stories encouraged me to face my own death, when the time comes, with equal peace.
Perhaps you do not think of your own death very much, but you are concerned about the impeding death of a loved one. There are stories in “Insistence on Life” to give you inspiration here, too. I liked the chapters on how a community and family came together to support one another in the unexpected death of Greg, a 20 year old. Rather than being a somber occasion, the memorial service was filled with friends and family sharing stories of Greg’s life. This and other accounts gave me ideas on what I would want a funeral service to include so that it is an uplifting experience for all.
“The great challenge we all encounter in the face of death is the reality that there is absolutely nothing anyone can do to change it.” writes Gignoux. If you have a fear of death I think you will find “An Insistence on Life” comforting and inspiring, causing you to reconsider your thoughts on the fate we all will inevitably face.
