Dr. Jeff Spiess

In a compelling example of what goes around comes around, psychedelic drugs are demonstrating intriguing therapeutic potential, most exciting to me being for dying patients with spiritual pain or existential distress.

The relationship between a married couple can provide moments of poignancy, and beauty when it is evident when one of them has reached the end of their life. Today’s post is not about that: here are two more of my favorite old jokes about the end of life.

The Biblical narrative reports thousands of children’s deaths, and four accounts of dead children brought back to life. Do those fortunate kids have anything to say to us today?

The Proud Boys knelt and prayed, but where was God when the Capitol was stormed?

Grandma Rigal sat us all down after Christmas, went from one child to the next around a circle, and ask us what our new year’s resolutions were…

“How can you stand to be around all that suffering and dying?” We each do what we have gifts for; hell for me would be being a 5^th grade teacher…

Suicide is a disaster. I'm not talking about people with terminal illness who make the conscious choice to take control of the time of their ending by voluntarily stopping eating and drinking or who utilize Medical Aid-in-Dying. The disastrous suicides I am thinking of are those performed alone, in secret, are the antithesis of good dying, and leave the bereaved with profound pain.

Trees show us that whatever pressing short-term trouble is causing us distress, there is a long view that can be a source of hope, meaning, perhaps even security.