One of the greatest and most troubling mysteries of life on this planet is the presence of so much suffering. I have met numerous people who claim to be atheists because they cannot imagine a loving God who allows so much pain and suffering. I have also spent countless hours talking with fellow Christians who, in the midst of suffering, wonder about this God of ours.

I do not want to try and offer some kind of apology for our God who created this world as it is; nor do I wish to dwell on one of the answers that St. Augustine offered to explain such a pervasive part of human existence, namely, that suffering is the result of sin.  

Rather I would like to reflect with you for a moment about pain and suffering at the end of our lives when death is not too far away. People in favour of euthanasia for those persons who are dying may or may not believe in an afterlife, but they do believe that the main, and perhaps only, answer to pain and suffering at the end of life is to kill the sufferer. And notice how blunt is the word ‘kill’ which is almost never used by euthanasia enthusiasts. They prefer euphemisms like ‘medical assistance in dying,’ or ‘compassionate termination of life,’ or ‘death with dignity’ or even ‘mercy killing.’ That each of these means that one human being kills another is covered over in a way that is meant to increase the ease for the rest of society to consider killing as the normal way to exit this world with as little suffering as possible.

I want to respond to this by assuring you that I am a strong proponent of palliative and hospice care. Their foundational philosophy is quite simple: They provide proper care for the dying, neither hastening death nor prolonging the dying. In other words, they support people to live to their fullest potential despite a terminal prognosis. Pain control is a priority for them, as is the management of various symptoms from breathing difficulties to adaptations in the face of growing weakness. They recognize the value of many medical interventions but they also understand that withholding or even withdrawing treatment that is too burdensome is an ethical part of decision making on the final journey.

Euthanasia societies love to create and drive people’s fears about circumstances at the end of life – often repeating that people are dying in pain. Proper palliative care dispels this fear. But fear of growing weaker, of becoming more dependent, of being abandoned or not worth being cared for, of losing normal abilities to function, or even think, lead to a dread of the dying process. And this is trumpeted as a reason to kill people.

In response to this I would like to assure you that the dying process which often includes many of these realities of diminishment also needs to be understood as a time of living. It is not living as if you were 30 years old again. It is living as a human being whose life ends in death. But it need not end in despair and hopelessness, or the fear driven by euthanasia societies. In my work with palliative caregivers, I have been astonished at how often people come to these palliative care units just wishing to quotes ‘get it over with.’ Then they receive the loving attention that frees them from pain, makes their stay as comfortable as possible, and often gives them hope for further accomplishments in their lives – like spending time with family and friends, or engaging in a personal project like writing one’s own autobiography, or reviewing one’s life and perhaps coming to terms with a God who is calling them from this life.

And this is where I would ask you to think about your own time of dying.  I have talked with many people who say, “I wish to die quietly in my sleep.”  But I assure you that after my experiences with the dying, I now ask God for time to foresee my death and devote myself to the living that takes place while letting go. And for the Christian, there are aspects to this which I think will make it a more spiritual and trustworthy journey.

We human beings do not like to lose abilities, to grow older and be less able to accomplish what used to be taken for granted.  And yet I think that this is one of God’s special gifts to us as we age and diminish. We are mortal, we are limited, we are fragile—and still we are in God’s hands.  The more frail we get, the more we have to trust in the God of Love who will never abandon us – but who asks us to trust Him through thick and thin. We are all pretty good at trusting God when things are going our way. We have to learn trust when we are not in control.  And there is no better place to learn this than as one prepares for death.

While pain and suffering are not something any of us should seek or inflict upon ourselves, they are a reality in human life. Stories abound of people who live with constant pain and yet accomplish great things. We know that there is great suffering in the lives of families and individuals when faced with loss or betrayal or failure or sin.  As Christians, however, we also know that Christ embraced this state of human existence in order to show us that we can trust God despite our pain and suffering. There is a powerful tradition of Christian devotion by which those who are suffering unite themselves to the suffering of Christ and to the dying Christ – and, as St. Paul notes, this contributes to completing the work of redemption on earth. 

As Paul says in his letter to the Colossians, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.”

What does that mean? Paul thought, as did many saints who followed over the centuries, that one could actually embrace pain and suffering as if they were one with Christ on the Cross and therefore become part of the ongoing redemption of the world.  

Paul recognized that his own trials and tribulations, which were extensive, did more than imitate the suffering of Christ. Just as the suffering of Christ opened for all of us new life in the resurrection, Paul saw that his own suffering and sacrifices were building blocks of the Christian community, enabling his contemporaneous brothers and sisters to remain faithful in the face of persecution and oppression, grief and illness. It is as if Paul understands that God is telling us that no amount of suffering, no act of sacrifice, no pain from loss or death falls to the ground without becoming fruitful within God's own mysterious plan of salvation through the Cross.

Paul is offering comfort to the Colossians, and all subsequent Christians, who wonder why we suffer if Jesus made such a big sacrifice. Why wouldn't life now be pain free for us? Paul is clear: Yes there will still be suffering in a world ever so slowly turning to the way of Jesus but not yet fully there.

Indeed over and over I have seen suffering transformed into something else in the light of a believer’s trust in God!

Sometimes we have to go through suffering in order to discover the most profound depths of our own humanity. The time of dying offers opportunities for the proud to learn humility, the sinner to trust in God’s mercy, the independent person to realize that he or she is worthy of being cared for by others and can be grateful for this gift. Dying has a way of focusing our attention on what matters in being human.

Many people today do not want to be a burden on their family or society. Please stop for a moment and realize what an awful thought that is when put into practice. It means very simply that at some point, my life is identifiable as nothing more than being a burden rather than as a child of a Loving God. Every human life is of infinite worth in its uniqueness and we cannot simply throw it away because somebody feels useless. Caring for the sick and the dying, sometimes very hard work but it is an act of love and respect for those who are growing weaker and preparing to leave this world. Let people love you in their care for you and their upholding of your dignity as a child of God who is in need. What God and you might accomplish in the last days or weeks of your life is a new chapter unique to your story and unique to the time of dying. This is not an opportunity for you to squander through fear and despair. Be aware that even unconscious persons close to death are sometimes having a profound effect on those around them.  

When we humans think that we are in control by killing others, we have made ourselves the gods of life and death – and there is no Redeemer to be found there. Please, please trust God to call you home according to God’s timeline. And pray that we will look after one another on this journey.

May Almighty God bless you on this journey and all your travels. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.