Coping With Death

Coping With Death Do these books succeed in their aim of offering consolation to those who have been robbed off their near and dear ones? Suzanne Fields, reviewing both works thinks not. “These two books by these priests of science and reason, she writes, address the griefs and protocols of dealing with the dead and dying. Well-meaning books both, concerned with offering practical psychological advice as well as solace, they nevertheless—perhaps inevitably—are useful but not elevating, sensible but never soaring. Grounded in the earth of observation, they are offered to wounded spirits that crave not advice but inspiration.” (Guardian Weekly, January 1, 1984) The shortcoming of these books is that they attempt to tackle scientifically a problem that can only be dealt with by religion. It is only by realizing that death— far from being the end of life—is the beginning of real life that we can begin to cope with the distress and suffering that death leaves in its wake. We have been allotted a short while in this world so that we may be put to the test. We are required to realize here that, though we seem to have power, we are in fact helpless before the will of God; though we seem to have possessions and attachments, everything belongs to Him. It is only those who feel they own something