Suffering and death are guaranteed for all of us, so why are we so poorly prepared to engage with them? Dr. Lydia Dugdale, an expert on medical ethics and author of The Lost Art of Dying, gives us heartbreaking and thought-provoking insights on the widening access to physician assisted death and the “glorification of choice.” Katherine and Dr. Dugdale discuss how we can think differently about what it means to live, suffer, and die with dignity and purpose—especially those of us living with disabilities. So what does Dr. Dugdale prescribe to us to be able to die well? Acknowledging our mortality and living (and dying) within a community of people.

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The Lost Art of Dying: Reviving Forgotten Wisdom by Dr. L.S. Dugdale

“It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart.” Ecclesiastes 7:2-3 (NIV)

Ars moriendi (The Art of Dying)

Canada’s assisted death statistics since 2016 (Reuters)

“Canada Euthanized 10,000 People in 2021. Has Death Lost Its Sting?” by Ewan Goligher for Christianity Today

Not Dead Yet

Me Before You (2016 film)

“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called…” Ephesians 4:1 (ESV)

Dying in the Twenty-First Century edited by Dr. L.S. Dugdale

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