Being in the Death Zone

You may flinch when you see me writing about being in the death zone, but my stark words are deliberate, and apposite, and apply to us all.

I I watched a poignant interview with Philip Gould yesterday: he was a close political adviser to Tony Blair for many years and has been challenged by cancer three times. He told Andrew Marr, and us, that he knows now he has three months only to live and described how being in “the death zone” was the most extraordinarily intense time for him. He described, movingly, how he saw his family, his world, nature with a depth that had been unachievable and unimaginable before he knew of the imminence of his transition, and that while he would prefer not to be in the position he was, he would not be anywhere else because of all that it gave him.

It was a remarkable demonstration of the acceptance of death and the gift of the process of dying. Many people die so quickly- in an accident, for example, or a heart attack – that the enlightenment that comes from the prospect of leaving the human body and progressing onwards is fleeting. Other people are so filled with fear at the idea of dying that it overwhelms them, and they feel resistance to rather than understanding of the greatness of the natural, spiritual process which is occurring as the soul gently prepares to move on at the perfect and pre-arranged time. They miss so much.

Watching Lord Gould, I saw in the translucency of his body the light of his spirit, and it was beautiful. He used different words from mine, but through them he showed, to me, that being in the death zone can be a time of the greatest revelation and understanding, when the loving hand of God is upon us constantly, to reassure us and guide us back to the place that is our true Home. He is in the place of reality now, and I wish him, thankfully, so very, very well.