Microsoft Word Elisabeth Kubler-Ross On Death And Dying doc

forward to meeting the Lord, but at the same time I would like to stay around on earth as long as 
possible. The thing that I feel the most deeply is the parting of the family. 
 
DOCTOR: How many children do you have? 
 
PATIENT: Just the one. 
 
DOCTOR: One son. 
 
PATIENT: As I say, we have been a very closely knit family. 
 
DOCTOR: Being so close, and you being a dentist knowing almost for sure that this was a cancer 
when you saw the X-rays, how come you never talked with your wife or your son about this? 
 
PATIENT: Well, I don't know for sure. Now I know that my wife and son fully expected it to be a 
major surgery and with a short duration of discomfort we expected a successful outcome. I didn't 
care to upset them further. I understand that my wife did go right to pieces when she was told the 
truth. My son, this is where his maturity came in, was a bulwark of strength in that period. But my 
wife and I have talked about it since very frankly, and we are seeking treatment because I feel that 
the Lord can heal. He is able, and through whatever 
 
method he is able to heal that I will accept it. We don't know what medicine will do, we don't know 
where the medical discoveries come from. How can a man dig a root from the ground and say I 
think this might be useful in treating such and such and yet it has happened. And in all our hospital 
laboratories you'll find the little things growing profusely now because they feel that it has a direct 
relationship to cancer research. How would you arrive at that conclusion? This is mysterious and 
it's miraculous as far as I'm concerned and I think this comes from the Lord. 
 
CHAPLAIN: Your faith has been a lot to you, I gather, not only during this illness but before. 
 
PATIENT: Yes it has been. I achieved a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ about ten years 
ago. I came to this position through a study of the Scriptures which I did not complete. The thing 
that finally settled as far as I was concerned was the realization that I was a sinner. This I had not 
realized, because I'm a good boy, always been a good boy. 
 
DOCTOR: What got you started on this ten years ago? 
 
PATIENT: It has gone back further than that. Overseas I had contact with a chaplain who talked to 
me considerably concerning things such as this. And I don't think anybody can be shot at more than 
once and be missed and not realize that there is something besides you standing there, especially 
when the man is standing within twenty feet of you. As I say, I had always been a good boy, I didn't 
swear, I didn't use vile language, I didn't drink, I didn't smoke, I didn't particularly care for them. I 
didn't chase women, very much, that is, and I was always a pretty good boy. And so I didn't realize 
I was a sinner until this particular moment at a meeting he was holding. There were about three 
thousand people there. And at the conclusion of his service, I don't remember what he preached on 
now, he asked for people to come forward to dedicate themselves to the Lord. I don't know why I 
went forward but I had a compulsion to. Afterwards I questioned my decision, I was sort of like I 

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was when I was six years old. I thought when I was going to be six years old, this world was going 
to blossom out beautifully and everything would be changed. Mother came downstairs that morning. 
I was 
 
(P110) 
 
standing in front of a mirror about ten feet square that we had in our living room, and she said, 
"Happy birthday, Bobby." She said, "What are you doing?" I said I was looking at myself. She said, 
"What do you see?" "Well," I said, "I'm six years old but I look the same, I feel the same, and by 
God I am the same." But I found out as my experience went deeper, that I wasn't the same, that I 
couldn't tolerate things that I had tolerated before. 
 
DOCTOR: Like what? 
 
PATIENT: Well, as you know, as you associate with people you meet-this is something that 
business people meet rather regularly-is the realization all of a sudden that they are making many 
contacts in bars. Before a professional meeting most of the men will retire to the bar of the motel or 
hotel and sit there and drink and have fellowship together. This didn't bother me particularly. I 
didn't drink but it didn't bother me, but it began to bother me later because I didn't believe in this. 
And I couldn't quite accept it. I didn't do things I did before and this is where I achieved the 
realization that I was different. 
 
DOCTOR: Has all this helped you now that you have to deal with your own dying and your 
terminal illness? 
 
PATIENT: Yes, very much so. As I said, I have been at complete peace with myself since I first 
came out of anesthesia after surgery. I was just as peaceful as I could be. 
 
DOCTOR: You have no fears? 
 
PATIENT: I cannot honestly say that I have feared. 
 
DOCTOR: You are an unusual man, Dr. G., you know. Because we very rarely see men who face 
their own death without any  fear. 
 
PATIENT: Well, it is because I expect to be at home with the Lord ' when I die. 
 
DOCTOR: On the other hand you still have some hope for a cure or for a medical discovery, right? 
 
PATIENT: Yes. 
 
DOCTOR: I think this is what you were saying before. 
 
PATIENT: The Scripture promises a healing if we call upon the Lord. I have called upon the Lord 
and claimed this promise. But on the other hand I want his will to be done. And this above all, 
beyond my personal considerations. 
 

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