We don’t much like to talk about dying. I know whenever I used to bring up the subject a certain person to whom I have been married to for 43 years didn’t want to talk or think about it. Unfortunately, sometimes reality bites.

I have lived 63 years now and been in the ministry over 40 of them and can honestly say I have seen my share of death and dying. Countless funerals (I wish I had kept a record). A mother. A grandfather & grandmother. A mother and father-in-law. A sister-in-law. Friends. Colleagues. Followers of Christ. Non-followers of Him. I have done “whole” families (mother, father, uncle and aunt, brother and sister).

I’d like to think I know about dying. But then again…I haven’t died so I can really say that. I’ve seen what cancer can do; what lingering illnesses can do; what sudden heart attacks can do; etc. But I can’t say I really know about dying.

Several months ago I read a blog which mentioned a book, When Breath Become Air, by Paul Kalanithi. It sounded interesting so I bought it. I finished reading it today (Wednesday). At the age of 36, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul was diagnosed with terminal cancer. This book is his story. It is not all about cancer. He tells about his life, his questions, his focus on neurosurgery all to give us his perspective on his cancer. I’d like to write that Paul beat his cancer…but I can’t. In March of 2015 he took his last breath. This book is his story (with a last chapter help from his wife, Lucy). It was published posthumously-a dying wish he wanted to hear as a promise.

It was not a “religious” book where he spouted off Bible verse after Bible verse. It wasn’t a name-it-claim-it book where he spoke positive confession and was healed. It is honest (with a few graphic words by others). It is filled with stories of people he “ran into” in his practice. He did talk about being raised as a Christian, then sojourned to ironclad atheism, and then found his way back to the faith of his childhood. Actually, his discussion of faith and science on pages 167-173 is almost worth the price of the book alone. I found myself sneaking small amounts of time to read with a bigger chunk last night and then again this morning. His story “haunted” me. I had tears in my eyes when his wife told of his death and his fight to live.

My suggestion: get the book. Read it for yourself, then let me know your thoughts.