A recent news article talked about a 51-year-old woman who was planning to kill herself last weekend. She has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. As a Roman Catholic, she knows her church condemns suicide.

ALS is a progressive neurological ailment, nearly always fatal. One of our family members died from ALS years ago. It was, as you might imagine, difficult to watch him struggle and finally die years later.

Here are some of our random thoughts and words, over the years, about life, death, suicide, and euthanasia.

Spirit

• Almost all humans have lived many lives and died many deaths. Dying is actually the easiest thing you will ever do.
• You choose the time and manner of your death–whether by “accident,” by illness, or by your own hand. So, in a real and literal sense, you all will ultimately commit suicide. It’s that simple.
• All came to this lifetime for a definite purpose. When that purpose has been accomplished, it’s time to leave. It is never appropriate to judge another’s life or death.
• You all do, indeed, have a right to die. Your society is so intensely focused on life that it forgets death is part of life.
• You often say, when people are suffering from a physical dis-ease, and are in great pain, their death is a “blessing.” It certainly is that. But so too is every other death, even those you consider tragic or untimely. You all die in the perfect way and perfect time, and by your own choice.
• When your physical life becomes anything less than joyful, when you are wracked with pain, physical or emotional, death can be a healing.
• None of you — whether “you” be an individual, a government, a church, a school, and so on — have any divine right to dictate to others how they shall live. Or die.
• Life or death — it makes no difference which you choose or how you choose to go about it. It’s all good. And you cannot ever get it wrong.

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We found this video from Esther Hicks and Abraham a refreshing perspective on death and suicide. We hope you do too.