As I Lay Dying: Meditations Upon Returning

by Richard John Neuhaus

Overview

Several years ago, a ruptured tumor almost killed Richard John Neuhaus. During a series of complicated operations, weeks in critical condition, and months in slow recovery, he was brought face-to-face with his own mortality. As he lay dying and, as it turned out, recovering, he found that despite his faith he had been quite unprepared for the experience. This book traces his efforts to understand his own reactions and those of his friends and family, and explores how we as a culture understand and deal with death. As I Lay Dying testifies that dying is-and is not-part of living. We can and should live our dying. Neuhaus interweaves his own story with thoughtful inquiry, circling through philosophy, psychology, literature, theology, and his own experiences to create provocative meditations that explore the many aspects of dying: the private and public experience, the separation of the soul from the body, grief, surrender, and mourning. The result is a book that shakes the foundations of our being-and yet is oddly and convincingly tranquil.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780465049318
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	04/01/2003
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	4.62(w) x 7.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Richard John Neuhaus, one of the foremost authorities on religion in the contemporary world and president of the Institute on Religion and Public Life, is the editor-in-chief of First Things. He was named one of the "25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America" by Time Magazine. His many books include Freedom for Ministry, Death on a Friday Afternoon, and As I Lay Dying. He is a priest of the Archdiocese of New York and lives in Manhattan.

Editorial Reviews

Father Richard John Neuhaus is considered one of the most prominent religious figures of the day. Here, he tries to come to terms with a subject that affects us all: death and dying. Father Neuhaus approaches the sensitive topic from two perspectives: his own near-death while undergoing an emergency operation, and the death of the man whose presence at his bedside helped him survive: Cardinal John O'Connor of New York City.

bn.com

Father Richard John Neuhaus is the very best writer and thinker on religion and public affairs in our country.

Trenton Times

[One of the] most influential intellectuals in America.

U.S. News and World Report

[He] has a refreshing way of standing the conventional wisdom about religion and politics on its head.

National Catholic Register

Neuhaus enjoys a well-deserved reputation as one of the great polemical writers of our day.

Beliefnet.com

One of America's leading public theologians.

Pro Ecclesia

Richard John Neuhaus is one of the country's most important assets.

William F. Buckley

"I almost died." With those three words that form the theme of his latest work, Neuhaus, a Catholic priest and former Lutheran pastor, recalls his brush with death and his thoughts as he was passing through it. Readers in search of sure answers and sweet comfort about the fate that awaits every human being may not be interested in this series of reflections. But those willing to join Neuhaus in pondering the complexities of mortality and the Christian promise of eternal life will emerge all the richer from his sojourn into mystery. Seven years ago, Neuhaus nearly died when a tumor ruptured in his intestines, wreaking havoc on his body and plunging him to the brink of death. As he lay dying in an intensive-care unit, he became keenly aware of his condition, particularly the possibility of his soul separating from his body, and of the reactions of those closest to him. His musings, mercifully free of minutiae from his medical chart, are wholly honest and hardly the stuff of those death-and-dying books that seek to remove all fear from every person's passage out of this world. But they also offer some succor to people of faith. For example, in analyzing his own "near-death experience," in which two seemingly heavenly beings inform him that "everything is ready now," Neuhaus lifts the veil ever so slightly into the life beyond. His report is worth examining by all who have considered their own death or faced that of another. (Feb.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

The one event that everyone experiences is death always a disturbing thought. Even people who firmly believe in an afterlife and are convinced that they are headed straight for paradise often fear death. We don't even like to use the word: instead of referring to people as having died, we say that they have passed away. Several years ago, Neuhaus, a Catholic priest well known to readers of religious literature and president of the Institute on Religion and Public Life, suffered a ruptured tumor and a series of appalling medical fiascoes, which left him on what seemed to be his deathbed. Miraculously, he recovered, having experienced dying but not death, and his book relates his thoughts about various aspects of life and death. Yes, dear reader, he did have a "near-death experience" but not of the bright-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel sort. Neuhaus's was much less dramatic and much more credible. Neuhaus is an experienced and gifted writer. His book is not easy to read, but it is certainly worth the effort. Appropriate for public and academic libraries with collections related to theological and philosophical aspects of death. Mary Prokop, Savannah Country Day Preparatory Sch., GA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal