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"Death is life's shadow. It
walks with us through the entire course of our days. We embrace
death as a friend because we honor life. I honor the God
of life whom I serve by living fully. I do not honor this God by clinging to
an existence that has become an empty shell. . .
"Death has a way of ringing the bell on all procrastination. It is because
life is finite, not infinite, that we do not postpone the quest for meaning
indefinitely. It is because of the presence of death with us on our life's
journey that we do not fail to take the opportunity to say "I love you," to
invest ourselves in primary relationships, to do what needs to be done now,
not tomorrow, to build a better world now. Death says you do not have
forever to make a difference. . .
"I, for one, want to live my life by wringing every ounce of joy out of every
moment that I am given. I want to expand my life to its fullest extent.
Then, I want to embrace death as my friend, my companion who has walked with
me from the first moment I was born. . .
"I am a practicing Christian, and ordained minister, and an elected bishop
in my church. Indeed, when I retired three years ago I was the senior active
bishop in the Episcopal Church in the United States in point of service.
That represents a long career in a position of major leadership. Yet, at the
same time I deeply support programs aimed at assistance in dying and
physician assisted suicide. I believe that if and when a person arrives at
that point in human existence when death has become a kinder alternative than
hopeless pain and when a chronic dependency on narcotics begins to require
the loss of personal dignity, then the basic human right to choose how and
when to die should be guaranteed by law and respected by our communities of
faith."
John Shelby Spong, Eighth Bishop of Newark, The Episcopal Church
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