A Christmas Gift
On Christmas Eve, a friend’s mom was lying in her bed, wracked in the pain that comes from metastatic cancer. Less than a year ago she received a pancreatic cancer diagnosis. A young grandmother, she was newly retired with so much ahead of her.
She fought the cancer as long as she could. Then came the time to say enough. Nothing more could be offered by the most skilled doctors and researchers. She willed herself alive until after Christmas. Two days later she entered hospice at the hospital and died the next day. I pray her death was peaceful.
How is it that this story is heard over and over again – a dying person wills themselves to hang on until after Christmas, after a birthday, a graduation, or a wedding? While there is no avoiding death, there seems to be an inner strength that says not yet, wait.
It is as if one was saying that I do not want my death to disrupt Christmas for my family or cast a shadow on a wedding day. No, I can suffer a little more for the love of my family. As it was once said to the newly wedded couples: “Sacrifice is usually difficult and irksome. Only love can make it easy and perfect love can make it a joy.”
The same love that made it possible for Jesus to carry his cross makes it possible for our loved ones to embrace suffering for our sake. Said another way, there is no greater love than to prolong one’s own death for another. And as the choirs sing “O Holy Night”, somewhere there is a family praying “O Holy Death.”
The gift of Christmas is the Word made flesh. And through our baptism we enter into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Because of Christmas, we can live our life knowing that we are from God and at our death, we will return to God.
As Christians, talking about our own death is a theological discussion. It follows then, that for people of faith, writing a will is an act of stewardship. It is a public acknowledgement that all that I am, and all that I have, is a gift from God. Legally, estate planning consists of our last will and testament. Through eyes of faith, our will is our last offering to God, a testament of love.
Your Foundation has resources to assist you in creating a plan that reflects your faith and your love for your family. If writing or updating your is part of your New year’s resolution, call us, we can help you achieve that goal.