Pondering the Death Penalty

In the wake of the recent trial for Nikolas Cruz, who killed 17 people in the Parkland, Florida school shooting, debate about the death penalty has reached new heights. He was sentenced to life in prison, and there is a loud outcry from those who feel that he should be put do death. The ACLU…

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Are Death Doula Training Programs Substantial Enough?

A few weeks ago I was asked by an aspiring death doula for recommendations about the best training programs.  The poor woman had no idea what she was in for by opening the door to one of my favorite rants. I encounter self-proclaimed death doulas on a regular basis, and when I ask about their…

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Rituals for Grief and Loss

by Dr. Terri Daniel, CT, CCTP   Most of us go through our lives living with a set of assumptions about our sense of safety in the world. But when we face a profound personal loss or trauma, those assumptions can no longer sustain us, and our grief invites us to look for deeper meaning…

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Grief and Non-Attachment

Danny’s Bed: Reflections on Grief and Non-Attachment Excerpted from Turning the Corner on Grief Street by Terri Daniel 2014       CHAPTER SIX This is a good place to explore how it’s possible to experience a traumatic loss and emerge whole and healthy rather than bitter and broken. Let’s start by examining the difference…

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Acceptance of Death
and Reclaiming Traditional Wisdom

With gratitude to Gary Wederspahn of Final Exit Networkfor contributing this article (Editor’s note:  Gary Wederspahn is an FEN board member and author of Intercultural Services: A Worldwide Guide and Sourcebook and many articles on cross-cultural communications and relations. He has lived and travelled in over 20 countries.  ————————————————————————- When I was born in 1940,…

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Suicide and The Bible

Many thanks to Kevin Bradley of Final Exit Network for contributing this article. There is nothing in the Hebrew or Christian scriptures – which most Christians refer to as the Old Testament and New Testament – that explicitly says suicide is wrong. The biblical sources tell of seven people who had a hand in their…

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How We Learn About Death – Part 2

Excerpted from Embracing Death: A New Look at Grief, Gratitude and God By Terri Daniel   We’ve all heard the cliché, “nobody’s ever come back from death to tell us about it, so there’s no proof that the soul lives on.” But that’s not true. Countless people have had near-death experiences and communication with departed…

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How We Learn About Death – Part 1

Excerpted from Embracing Death: A New Look at Grief, Gratitude and God by Terri Daniel   The way we perceive death is a choice. When my 10 year-old son Danny was diagnosed with a degenerative illness that would end his life sometime within the next 10 years, we began a sacred, transcendent journey that led…

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Death Has Many Names

This article is from the New York Times, Feb. 14, 2021 By George YancyPhoto Credit…Devin Oktar Yalkin for The New York Times Not a day goes by that speakers of the Yoruba language do not make mention of death as both a phenomenon and a certainty. George Yancy: Here in the West, where a few…

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