Finishing Well, an MD’s advice

John Dunlop is a neighbor, a friend, a former fellow church attender — and my personal physician. He’s also now an author of a fine new book on a subject we all need to think about and a subject all pastors face, sometimes weekly. His book is about “finishing well” in this life: Finishing Well to the Glory of God: Strategies from a Christian Physician.

Over the years I’ve had some interesting conversations with John about retirement, and I won’t forget the time he told me that far too many “retire to play” and to do what they want (instead of what others want them to do), and he observed that far too many Christians are no different when it comes to finishing well. John told me one of the ways to probe this is to ask “What do you do?” If you answer that question with “I am a professor” or “I am a President/CEO” or “I am a chemist” then one’s identity tends to be tied into what one does. And he has learned that such people can struggle with depression when they retire.

I use this point only to illustrate what this book does and what we need to discuss: How do you help people to “finish well”? What are you doing to finish well? For those who are retired, what do you have to tell us? Any advice? Big question: What are churches doing about this topic?

John develops nine strategies in this book to help people gain a perspective on life and how to finish well. I’ll give those here:

1. Live well
2. Let go graciously: here he discusses facing aging and the need to move to the next phases — say moving from a home, no longer driving, etc.. Very good chp. Central here is realigning hope and centering in our hope in Christ.
3. Treasure God’s love; love him in return.
4. Grow through adversity: here John brings his medical perspective on suffering and what we can learn from it. Offer people presence, compassion and tears.
5. Embrace a biblical view of life and death, with death as a defeated enemy that ushers us into the resurrection life.
6. Complete your agenda, like evaluating your life, examining our faith, praying and determining to die well. Also strengthening family ties and making closure … for those who die slowly.
7. Make appropriate use of technology. This chp is full of wisdom by one who faces the issue constantly. Like not letting technology be a god and rejecting the technological imperative.
8. Changing gears from cure to comfort care. Here he has stories about how the elderly don’t mind not having technology prolong (death often called) life. Instead they are willing to enter death into life. When death is inevitable, John argues permitting death is not wrong. He has great advice on this one.
9. Rest in Jesus.