Читать книгу Before We Say Goodbye: Preparing for a Good Death - Ray Simpson - Страница 30

I mentioned earlier that Good Pope John XXIII practised imagining he was on his deathbed from his student days. This stood him in good stead. When he was dying of a painful cancer, he refused medication in order to be fully present to the world and to God.

I try to review my life at least once a year. The froth recedes. Important things which have been left undone come to my notice, and I still have time to do something about them.

Here is a way to review your life which was passed on to me. You might want to record or write these things down. Take plenty of time and come back to some of the points if you need to.

* * *

I imagine that today I am to die. I ask for time to be alone, and write down for my friends a sort of testimony.

1 These things in life I haveloved:

tasted:

looked at:

smelled:

heard:

touched:

2 These experiences I have cherished:

3 These persons are enshrined within my heart:

4 These convictions I have lived by:

5 These are the things I have lived for:

6 These insights I have gained in the school of life:

7 These risks I took:

8 These sufferings have matured me:

9 These lessons life has taught me:

10 My life has been shaped by these persons:

occupations:

books:

events:

11 These things I regret about my life:

12 These are my unfulfilled desires:

13 These are my life’s achievements:

I choose an end to this document – a poem (my own or someone else’s), a prayer, a sketch, a picture from a magazine, a Scripture text, or anything else that I judge would be an apt conclusion to my testament. I place or write below the points I have made.