How to Achieve a Happy Death

Sr. Lou Whipple, who died this week at the age of 50 years, taught us a great deal about how to approach death. Although she greatly loved her family, her monastic sisters, and her life in the monastery, upon learning that her cancer was terminal, she did not cling to life. Instead, she attended to what each day brought with what energy she had—going to daily prayer and meals, working a few hours in the business office, and spending time with loved ones. When diminished breath confined her to bed, she continued to pray and visit in that space, and when her body ceased to function, her soul slipped away peacefully.

Recently I read that of the three elements that make us who we are—body, mind, and soul—there is no doubt that it is the soul that is in charge at the time of our death. Nonetheless, our mind (that is, our ego, or who we think we are) and body often resist death, because they believe it means the end of them. The poet Louise Glück said, “The great thing / is not having / a mind.” I’m not sure that is possible, but somehow Sr. Lou’s trust in her soul, the agent of God, allowed her to come to an acceptance of her impending death and override the objections of her mind and body. Thus, she had what we would call a “happy death,” and gave us a model for how to achieve that ourselves. It was her last gift to us.