| Abstrak/Abstract |
Death is a natural process of human life. Each of us will experience death with a certainty. Although It is relevant and importance, people avoid talking about death. The Faithful yearns to be with God but do not look forward to die anytime. Death is understood as the segregation between the physical and the spiritual part of human body and act as a ‘bridge’ for believers to transcend to spiritual world where they will meet God.
This was qualitative phenomenology aimed to describe people’s perception and understanding of a good death and how to prepare it. What need to be done so that the dying can have the moments at end-of-life beautiful and peaceful, even when physical suffering present. Is it possible to have “a good death”, both for the dying and the families left behind. Participants are families of terminally ill patients in private hospital in Indonesia.
The finding of this research shows that most participants believe good death can be prepare but ultimately God decides about death and circumstances around it. One of the key issue found that the dying themselves were not aware that of their terminal conditions. Therefore they are unable to prepare themselves mentally and spiritually.
Most families in this research become aware of their terminal condition less than 1-2 months before the loved one died. Albeit short, there is time to prepare for the final moments to be beautiful and full of good memory to hold on. Preparation needs to cover not just economically or medically but emphasize on spiritual and mental aspects. When faith is put as foundation, it is easier to accept the physical death as a way to join God. So that more people can have beautiful moments at the end of their life journey. |
