The Heart of the Hereafter

Marcia Brennan is a professor of art history and religious studies in Texas who has also been artist in residence in palliative medicine at a cancer centre. This beautiful book describes her experiences with 10 patients. She begins by observing that we no longer have an Ars Moriendi as in mediaeval times, hence much less idea of what a good death consists of. The encounters are all moving in their own way, as a result of which she writes a poem that is then illustrated in a line drawing by Lyn Smallwood. The result is striking, and many patients recognise that she has captured something essential about their lives and loves. There is a touching account of a couple who have been devoted to each other for many years, and the husband is dying. The poem is entitled The Other Side of the Waterfall and the last few lines are as follows:

Once we went high up in the mountains And we were sitting together On the other side of a waterfall. As we sat there looking out of the falling water I knew that this was what I always wanted.

And then I knew what it meant to be truly in love.

She ends the book by suggesting that 'the end of life represents a critical juncture that allows us to feel the extraordinary intensity of the love that is in you and in me and everyone. Such love both touches and transcends our lives, just as it seems to continue with a life and power all its own.