The last journey

by Letters Editor · Published June 2, 2011 · Updated May 30, 2011

From June Jansen

As a devout Catholic there are times when I come across facts (and sometimes fiction) which cause me to pause and ponder on the teachings of our faith. The following was, and perhaps still is, a profound occurrence in the lives of good, hard working people living in a challenging, hostile environment.

The aged and ill of the Inuit people of the frozen north, Alaska, Canada and beyond would, without fuss, make the decision to lighten the burden on their loved ones and take one last journey into their pristine but frozen arctic homeland.

When the time of their departure arrived, they would wrap themselves in furs, take a small parcel of food and step out into the tranquillity of the snow and icy air. They would go as far as they could away from all they knew and loved. When tiredness overtook them, they�d find a snow drift for shelter, settle down and eat the little food they had brought with them.

I feel sure that in those last hours they would dwell on the happy memories of their lives, make their peace with their Great Creator God before closing their eyes and allowing the spirit of rest to wrap them in its arms and then welcome the wings of sleep to carry them into the welcoming arms of eternity.

Neither family nor friends would have attempted to follow them for they knew and understood the way of their own people. Any trace of the footsteps of their loved ones would not be visible having been blotted out by the falling, shifting snow. They would with sadness, but acceptance, appreciate the loving sacrifice made.

There is something deeply spiritual about such a selfless act of love.

It is not a violent death, but an act of the greatest kind of love performed with gentleness and in peace. Such an act of love spares loved ones the anguish of caring for a frail senior member of the family and community who in the harsh and hostile environment of bitter long winters and short cold summers would be an added burden.

In the eyes of the Church would this act be accepted as an act of selfless love or revoked as an act of suicide and therefore rejected as sinful?

Such a person would not be committing suicide but surrendering to a natural end. So even if suicide was invariably a sinful act (which according to the catechism of the Catholic Church it is not), that point wouldn�t apply.�Editor