Tag Archives: Death & Dying

On June 5, at St. John’s Cathedral, five faiths were represented from a panel focusing on this specific question: Should Washington State abolish the death penalty?

This was a forum specially organized to address the issue from religious perspectives.

I cannot reconcile the extremes in this world; the beauty of the hawk circling the sky, the grace of the snake sliding through the grass, the culmination of life and death as the Red Tailed hawk swoops down from her dance and grasps the garter snake in her talons, eagerly ending its life and joining its essence to her own.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) panelists will discuss the realities of the death penalty.

The discussion begins at 6:30 p.m. at The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist.

The Rev. Martin Elfert, author of our Father Knows Best column, has been prompted to write two posts about suicide recently.

His posts come at a time when suicides are making headlines.

Kris died at age 8 in 1986, when a car hit him on the way to school. Kourt died about 10 years later, at age 17, killing himself amid depression and the still-stinging absence of his older brother.

Six months ago I wrote about the death of my father — a man I hardly knew, yet whose passing I grieved. Today I pen about the loss of a second parent — the one who stepped in when dad walked out.