Heavenly fears of dying.

• Author: Puterbaugh, Dolores T.
• Position: PARTING THOUGHTS

EVERYONE WANTS TO GO to Heaven, but nobody wants to die. Elijah was taken there in a fiery chariot, but that's pretty much it. Even Jesus and His mother had to die before they were brought into Heaven, body and soul. The rest of us, apparently, also will have to die before meeting our final reward.

Most people spend a lot of time avoiding the idea of death. A friend has been fighting cancer for six years. She recently decided--enough. No more endless rounds of experimental chemotherapy and the resulting sickness. There is a window for some decent quality of life, and then she knows she will die. Her family is resisting--has been resisting--for years now. They do not want to face death, and if it means she has to suffer longer, that is a price they are prepared to let her pay.

Parents without wills or plans for their progeny think you are morbid if you suggest it might be prudent to make arrangements. Middle-aged people express surprise when someone as young as they inexplicably appears in the obituaries. Many elderly people, with long and rich lives, are reluctant to make the emotional and spiritual preparations necessary for psychological health at the end of life.

Coping with death is just one slice of the pie. Ease and bliss--a shallow feint at heaven on earth--conflict with troublesome details, such as effort and sacrifice. Substance abuse, theft, and the epidemic bitterness encouraged against successful people are baser versions of the same desire: ecstasy without the agony. When then-candidate Barack Obama suggested to Joe the Plumber that the fruits of Joe's labor ought to be "spread around" like orange marmalade on toast, there ought to have been a collective gasp sufficient to create a vacuum effect over the country. At least Mr. Obama was forthright about his intentions; many others harbor the same notion but have neither the weapons nor the personnel necessary to execute it.

Humans are programmed to seek pleasure. One of our neurotransmitters, dopamine, enjoys a particularly intimate relationship with thrills. Dopamine is part of the electro-chemical charge of falling in love, winning at gambling, and excitement in general. The dopamine system evolves across the life span. Small children experience countless rushes--everything's wonderful! Snow! School! A snow day! Adults whose brains are unspoiled by drugs are barely moderated versions of children in this regard: Sunset! Sunrise! Sex! Steak! Cake! Teenagers, however, go through...