SEVEN WORDS FOR THE END OF YOUR JOURNEY

A debut guide explores the struggles of the dying as seen through the lens of Jesus’ famous final words.

Spoor bases his book about dying on the so-called final words or “Seven Words” of Jesus on the cross, a collection of his last utterances drawn from the four Gospels and traditionally grouped as a liturgical unit. The author has for six years been a chaplain at Peace Hospice in Chicago and argues that “dying can be a drawing closer to God and a joyful preparation for the life to come.” Spoor follows the general pattern of Christian writers on the final words by broadening their specific sayings—“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do,” “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” and even “I thirst”—into wider examinations of their themes in Christian life. When discussing, for instance, the urging Jesus gives for Mary to take care of John and John to take care of Mary, the author asks more general questions. “How can those who are facing the end of life also be mindful of the pain of the ones they will leave behind?” he asks at one point. “Let us consider what the losses of the bereaved may be.” The final words of Jesus reflect many key aspects of the things experienced by dying patients, Spoor contends in his illuminating work, including the foreknowledge of death itself. He notes that Jesus many times warned his unbelieving disciples that he would soon die. Throughout the book, the author is both an insightful critic and a compassionate guide. Readers approaching life’s end—and all of their loved ones—will find much comfort in these pages.

An invitingly written study of the ways readers can find enlightenment in Jesus’ last words.