The Good Death
I hate the modern Hallowe'en, but I love the idea of a "Season of Remembrance", running from All Saint's Eve on October 31st to Armistice Day on November 11th. In my opinion (and experience, as someone who has provided the music for a lot of funerals) death isn't spooky or morbid (if that's not nonsensical). It's natural, as natural as leaves falling from trees and the year turning from summer to winter. The dead are not to be feared. They are our ancestors, our relatives, our family. It's good to spend time remembering them, praying, or simply lighting a candle. Neither must Death be a figure of fear or horror. Death can be kind. We have only to think of the late Sir Terry Pratchett's wonderful character of Death, who always spoke in capitals, and walked with Sir Terry at the end. Or the compassionate Death, narrator of The Book Thief , who gathers children's souls in his arms during the air raids. In that vein, I g...