Wise Living: A Manifesto for Sanity and Soul

Stephen Jenkinson's "Die Wise" does not offer a seven-step plan for coping with death, nor does it suggest ways to make dying easier. Instead, with lyrical prose, deep wisdom, and stories from his two decades of working with dying people and their families, the book places death at the center of the page and asks us to behold it in all its painful beauty.

"Die Wise" teaches the skills of dying - skills that have to be learned in the course of living deeply and well. It is a book for those who will fail to live forever. Dying well, Jenkinson writes, is a right and responsibility of everyone; it is not a lifestyle option, but a moral, political, and spiritual obligation each person owes their ancestors and their heirs.

The book dreams of such a dream and plots such an uprising. How we die, how we care for dying people, and how we carry our dead - this work makes our capacity for a village-mindedness, or breaks it.

The book's table of contents includes the following chapters:

"The Ordeal of a Managed Death" explores how the medical system has stripped dying of its profound significance. "Stealing Meaning from Dying" examines how society has robbed the dying of their right to shape their own ending. "The Tyrant Hope" delves into the tyranny of false hope that denies the inevitable. "The Quality of Life" challenges the notion that a good life is defined by health and productivity. "Yes, But Not Like This" questions the idea that a good death is one free of struggle and pain.

"The Work" encourages readers to embrace the difficult work of bearing witness to death and supporting the dying. "So Who Are the Dying to You?" asks us to consider our relationship to those facing their end. "Dying Facing Home" explores the importance of dying in one's own community. "What Dying Asks of Us All" reflects on the profound lessons dying can teach the living. And "Ah, My Friend the Enemy" contemplates the role of death as a teacher and companion.

Throughout the book, Jenkinson places death at the center, urging us to confront it head-on and acknowledge its essential role in the cycle of life. "Die Wise" is a call to reclaim our humanity in the face of mortality, to embrace the profound work of caring for the dying, and to cultivate a more authentic, village-minded approach to the end of life.

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