Becoming the Angel of Death

Angel of Death is not my given name. It’s an earned name assigned by my colleagues in ministry. I think it was born the day I visited a parishioner at Wake Med. Clearly, he was dying; I just did not know how quickly his death was coming. Knowing that the last sense we lose is hearing, I talked to him. I gave thanks for his goodness and faithfulness to his family and church. I prayed with him a prayer of peace and thanksgiving and assured him of the life eternal that was his in the promise of Resurrection. I anointed him with oil and prayed that he would not be afraid.

The walk back to the parking deck at Wake Med is just a short distance… down halls, over the pedestrian walkway to the elevator. As I stepped into the elevator my phone rang. My parishioner had died in the ten minutes since I left his room. The Angel of Death was born unto me.

There are other incidences in my time as a United Methodist Pastor where such prayers of release have been heard, both by God and the by the one who is dying. Calls have come within hours or days that death has come. My response is usually an old Easter hymn; The Strife is O’er, The Victory Won. As Christians, we claim that death is not only ultimate healing, but also the transition into eternity beyond this life into communion with all the saints who have gone before us.

I sometimes think that dying is not the strife; rather living as if death is a fearsome enemy is the strife. Even those of us who have Christian hope put off thoughts of death in denial that results in lifelong struggle to hold on to the easy parts of living like youth and health. Even when we die, we euphemize our telling about it. Passed away. Went to the great beyond. Claimed our heavenly reward. All well and good, but avoiding the very word on the certificate: DEATH.

Making peace with the trajectory of all living things is the only way to be at ease with our aging and our dying. Wisdom teaches us that for everything there is a season; a time to be born, a time to die. There is no surer thing than this. The blessing of the faith I claim and pray, and bear to those who are dying is the peace beyond understanding assured in Christ. This is the basic doctrine of the Christian faith.

Barbara Ehrenreich in her book, Natural Causes, asks the question: “How old is old enough to die?” Turns out, all of us are. All the exercise, tummy tucks, Botox and euphemisms aside, we all will die. All we have to do is look in the mirror to see that we are moving in that direction.

Angels are messengers of God. Angels come to speak Good News. Be not afraid, the angel says. Walk in peace and live broadly the time that is yours: this moment. For we know not the hour or the day. Here is what we do know: our spirits are one with God in this world and the world beyond. And for this one-day, if we never have another, give thanks.

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Read these other first-person accounts of different faith traditions: