Dolores L. CHRISTIE. It’s Time: Narratives of Illness, Aging, and Death. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2019. Pp.154. $21.00 pb. ISBN 978-1-5326-8079-3. Reviewed by Arthur J. KUBICK, Pawtucket, RI 02860.

I did not want to read this book.  Why, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, would I  choose to read more stories of illness, aging and death?  After months of grim pandemic statistics I was in the mood for the Marx Brothers. 

But we are story-people.  To be human is to tell stories, in fact, to live a story—to be shaped by all sorts of narratives: compassionate and caring as well as painful and broken. And besides, I had promised to review the book.  (There is always something important in keeping promises.)  It was the narratives that carried me along during the first—and then the second—reading.   It is these narratives that shape the incarnational ethics at the heart of the book.  Dee Christie has brought together years of experience in theology and clinical ethics into a very readable collection of human stories.  These narratives are gathered into three categories, a kind of contemporary “Theology of the Last Things”: Illness, Aging, Death.  For procrastinators like me, there is the continuing refrain” It’s Time”.  A time to be born, a time to die.  A time to hear the stories of others, to ask questions, to prepare. 

The first section considers illness through six short stories, most of them fictional according to the author.  (Although “A Trip to the CABG Patch”—Coronary Artery Bypass Graft—originally published in Commonweal, seems to be Christie’s personal experience.)  The stories here deal with persons, often in the best years of their lives, facing serious illness: ALS, cancer, debilitating treatment, surgery, dementia.  And the need to make seemingly impossible decisions—including for some assisted suicide.  This book was published before COVID-19 so none of the stories speak of the coronavirus, but issues and questions surrounding that illness can be found here.  It has certainly placed the issues of illness, aging and death into the daily conversation of many people.

Being an octogenarian I was especially interested in the second section on aging.  Six more stories speak about the upsides and downsides of getting old.  There are the “Do not go gentle into that good night” seniors who keep a vitality into old age.  And those whose vitality is broken by illness and dementia.  And the decisions that children must face about care for older parents.  “Aging brings complicated moral choices to spouses, care givers, and even knocks on the secured doors of tenured professors or hospital administrators.” 

The third section offers the reader five stories on death, that all-embracing reality that each of us must face.  In one way or another these stories ask us how we have lived our lives: a priest leaves a life of service to others; a 103-year-old celebrates family—and life.  How do I say goodbye to life, to others, to myself?  This often means embracing the fact of one’s relevance to the lives of others.  Christie tells a poignant story of visiting the theologian who was the subject of her doctoral dissertation (Louis Janssens?), she in her forties, he in his eighties. After a life of important contributions to society, “Today, no one comes.”  Christie sums up this section with several important questions: “What do I want yet to do?  What do I yet want to say, before I can no longer say “good bye”?  It’s time.”

These seventeen stories will have something valuable and challenging for a wide variety of readers.  They are not at all preachy; instead they leave reflection to the listener—old and young.  Each story stands by itself for individuals, families, professionals to ponder and, if desired, discuss and argue.  The questions they raise are fundamentally human and can be used in the living room as well as the classroom.  Dr. Christie brings a wealth of experience toward shaping these stories: college professor, experienced clinical ethicist, a member of the ethics committee of the Hospice of Western Reserve.  This background comes through not only in the sensitivity found in the stories, but also in two appendices offered to the reader for enhanced reflection.  Since decision-making is at the heart of these stories, Appendix A outlines “A Process for Making Decisions.”  It may be applied to the stories, helping to clarify the questions that arise there.  Going beyond reading the stories for their own sake, Appendix B gives us “Questions for Discussion” to enhance reflection on each story.  (For example, “What should a person with a serious illness consider in making treatment decisions?”  What obligations, if any, does the ordinary citizen have to the well-being and health of others?”)  Open-ended questions like these bring us into the heart of the situation described and add to the communal wisdom for ethical decision-making. 

Dr. Christie has given us a valuable, well-written resource for personal and communal reflection.  Take the time to read it, even in the midst of pandemic darkness.  The stories of illness, aging and death may lead also to new insights and wisdom.  And there is still room for the Marx Brothers.