What has dying person to say about life?

When we sit with a dying person, we gain two critical insights into what it means to "be alone together". First, we realize that we must abandon the arrogance that often distorts our relationships - the arrogance of believing that we have the answer to the other person's problem. When we sit with a dying person, we understand that what is before us is not a "problem to be solved" but a mystery to be honored. As we find a way to stand respectfully on the edge of that mystery, we start to see that all our relationships would be deepened if we could play the fixer role less frequently. Second, when we sit with a dying person, we realize that we must overcome the fear that often distorts our relationships - the fear that causes us to turn away when the other reveals something too vexing, painful, or ugly to bear. Death may be all of this and more.