In this follow-up episode to our early December shows titled “Mormons Encountering Death”(MM 430–432), former hospice chaplain and meditation and contemplation teacher Phil McLemore joins Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon for a deep dive into spiritual practices and insights that can help one prepare (and prepare now!) for our eventual death. Combining discussions of scripture, both Biblical and LDS, with training and sensibilities from contemplative traditions, the two speak directly to the causes of the fear and anxieties that often lead to our denying our mortality or refusing to consider the dying process and working toward it becoming less terrifying—and possibly even beautiful.
May these 90 minutes be a source of wisdom and potential comfort to you, as well as a spur to greater integration of death into our daily consciousness.
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Links:
Philip G. McLemore, “Mormon Mantras: A Journey of Spiritual Transformation,” Sunstone, April 2006.
Philip G. McLemore, “The Yoga of Christ,” Sunstone, July 2007.
327–328: “Explorations in Depth—The Two Lost Sons and Growing in God,” Mormon Matters, 12 April 2016.
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Comments 3
I was looking up this episode to share with some friends and noticed there were no comments. Wanted to share that i found this podcast fascinating and soulful. Thank you Dan and Phil! I even shared a few ideas from it in my testimony last year. A handful of my friends (all LDS) were discussing their fear of death and I will be sharing this with them!! I think it will help them fill their void.
Author
Thank you, so much, Barb! I am really glad that it has been impactful in your life. I hope it will connect similarly with your friends.
I very much loved doing this whole series that included Stephen Carter and Sam Brown, as well. It is strange how some shows generate a decent amount of discussion and others don’t. In general, the shows see more discussion on Facebook than here. I wish that weren’t the case, but just make peace with it.
All my best!
Dan
The liberation of giving up the fear of death. I feel like most people I’ve met the fear of dying is the most dreaded fear. Early in my flight training I had such an experience. Fly solo and landing at an airport if had never flow into my senses /awareness where at the ready. Being low and slow is not a good place to be. All the sudden I could smell and electrical burning smell coming from the control panel. My first thought was this is not good! The next thing the cockpit filled with smoke as I was on final approach. I could barely see and coughing from the smoke. If things could have not gotten worse now there is a cockpit fire. At this point I said to myself ” I’m dead”. It was the freest I had ever felt. It was as time stood still and have never known such serenity as I joyfully awaited the loving arms of Saint Peter. Then I thought too myself OK, I’m dead so anything I do might save my life. Well the outcome is obvious.
One cannot fully live while they are bound to the fear of death. There are many Bible and Book of Mormon verse about being bound to earthly things. Which this earthly life is.