Abstract

In our modern technologically sophisticated age, the right to life has all but overwhelmed the right to live. Preoccupied with delaying death, the inherent value of life is often compromised. Earlier this spring, the media was suffused with coverage of Terri Schiavo, and, indeed, theSouthern Medical Journal recently added its own voice to the debate.¹Close on the heels of the Schiavo case came news of Pope John Paul II’s ailing condition and his eventual passing just after Easter. A welcome relief from the divisiveness surrounding Schiavo, the late pontiff peacefully lived out his remaining days as a teacher, demonstrating how to live life to its natural end and to conclude it by dying with dignity. His simple message, “do not be afraid,”² is particularly apt for this insecure world and is a teaching from which we can all learn not only in death but also in life.