“To look death in the face is to look at the price of life”

Why is it essential to talk about death?

In the past, we regularly visited our deceased at the cemetery. Today we refuse to integrate death as part of our life. A deceased person is said to have “gone”. No, he’s not gone, he’s dead! Death leads man to question the meaning of his life: by realizing his fragility, he grasps its value. Death densifies our existence.

Is it easier to talk about it when you are a believer?

Christians are not necessarily comfortable with this subject. And I met unbelievers who were not worried at all, since for them, after death, nothing happened! Saint Thérèse of Lisieux has this wonderful phrase: “I do not die, I enter life. » No, death does not interrupt everything, since we encounter God. The challenge is to know if, before dying, I will give meaning to my life. To be a Christian is to want to live lovingly, whatever the hour of my death.

How to say goodbye?

Saying goodbye means taking the time to say that you love each other. The impulse can come from the dying person, their spouse, a nurse, a member of the chaplaincy… In the case of a person at the end of life, a caress on the forehead or the hand is also worth a thousand words . You have to live these moments of departure intensely. Beautiful words are shared at the time of death, sometimes even at burial. But it’s a shame to wait until this time to do it. We have all our lives to say sorry and thank you, at 30 as well as at 80. What is the price of my life, the weight of existence? The density of what will be shared is worth talking about. To look death in the face is to look at the price of life.