Corking the Bottle

Why mourn the dead? What we really are doing is mourning a past that can't be brought back. Our love for the deceased is so great that we feel sorry for ourselves and our lost one. If you are in mourning, try to turn it into a celebration of the life that hes ended. I know it feels impossible because grief is part of the healing process. But here is something you can do: Avoid drowning sadness with alcohol and other drugs. That's no way to pay respect for a person you love.

I am reading Conversations With God by Neale Donald Walsh ( http://www.nealedonaldwalsch.com/ ). He writes as if he were asking God questions about living and being and then he answers them. Some of what "God" says fits my beliefs, some I don't understand, and some I reject. A.A. has taught me to respect the beliefs of others when I don't agree. We all have a right to be wrong. Including me. One part of the book speaks out to me, given I just lost my father-in-law after his long stretch of discomfort, pain, and dementia. The God in the book tells Walsh: "The entire medical profession is trained to keep people alive, rather than keeping people comfortable so they can die with dignity. "You see, to a doctor or nurse death is a failure,,,, Only to the soul is death a relief -- a release. "The greatest gift you can give the dying is to let them die in peace -- not thinking they must 'hang on,' or continue to suffer, or worry about you at ...