Rev. Dr. Martha R. Jacobs

We live in a world where information is at our fingertips. You can download just about anything and have access to it almost instantly. We take control of so many aspects of our lives -- we stay "informed" about our money, our financial investments, and perhaps even our health issues....

Is there such a thing as "suffering from life"? This phrase caught my attention when reading a NY Times article about two weeks ago. It was entitled "Push for the Right to Die Grows in the Netherlands," and is about expanding euthanasia in the Netherlands. There is a...

This coming Monday, April 16, is National Health Care Decisions Day. It was started to inspire, educate and empower the public and providers about the importance of advance care planning. I have written many times in this blog about the importance of people having advance directives. This is...

Well, here we are approaching Holy Week. For those of us who are Christian, this is one of the most important weeks of our liturgical calendar. This is the week that we should be contemplating what we never want to contemplate: death -- the death of the one who we...

I had never read anything by Jeffrey Zaslow (although as I realize now, I did read The Last Lecture, which he co-authored with Randy Pausch). This week, I happened upon a letter to the editor in The New York Times about him, in response to the...

How does someone maintain a relationship with God when one describes one's life as: dull, miserable, demeaning, undignified and intolerable? If one believes that God is all-loving and all powerful, how then can one turn to God for help?

This question arose for me when I was reading an article...

Just before New Years, I found myself helping a family whose loved one was dying. As a chaplain in a hospital, I never know whether a family will "allow" me (or any other chaplain) "in" at the time that is most painful for them. Amazingly, most families welcome a

Recently, I had a conversation with an elderly person who is tired of living. She has outlived her family and her friends. While she has some chronic health issues, she is basically doing well. Her hearing is going and her eyesight requires that she wears glasses. Her heart is strong...

What is a family member's role in helping someone who has a terminal diagnosis? This question was recently put to me by a patient who is at odds with her family about how they can best help her as she struggles with facing her mortality while also wanting to live...

"Death is very likely the single best invention of life. It is life's change agent." These are the words of Steve Jobs given at the commencement address to the graduates of Stamford University in 2005.

Since so many people are remembering Steve Jobs for how he changed so...

The "case" of Sir Edward and Lady Joan Downes has fascinated and bothered me since I first read about them in 2009. Sir Edward, 85, and Lady Downes, 74, were devoted to one another. For half a century they had been an inspiring influence on the cultural life...

About two weeks ago I was driving along the Cross County Parkway on my way into the City. I looked up and saw a commercial airplane flying at what seemed to be a lower altitude than usual. I immediately wondered if it was going to crash into a building nearby....

Several blog postings ago, I wrote about dealing with my parents who were transitioning from living in their own home to an independent living facility and all of the questions that we need to be sure to know the answers to about our parents and their "personal business."...

Dudley Clendinen is dying. While we are all going to die at some point even if we don't know when or how, Dudley knows he is dying because he has ALS (aka Lou Gehrig's Disease), which is a fatal disease. And, he has decided when and how he...

"Mom always liked you best ..."

This line from the Smothers Brothers Comedy Show made people laugh. And there is a good reason why -- most of us think that our parent(s) love one of our siblings more than they love us.

This sense of one sibling being favored...

How do you deal with elderly parents who are not living near you? What happens when their health begins to fail? How do you know that they are doing okay?

We are taught from when we are very young to "respect" our elders ... but what if what they want...

With the death of Dr. Jack Kevorkian many people are probably breathing a sigh of relief -- "Doctor Death" is dead.

Well, I have a different take on Dr. Kevorkian. I believe that he should actually be thanked because he raised the awareness that we don't do...

I ended my last blog with this question: What does God expect you to do when a loved one is clearly dying: to encourage them to let go or to plead with them to "not die"?

This is a difficult question to answer perhaps because we can't acknowledge...

A young man is dying. It is clear to everyone that he is dying. However, his family wants just one more test done...

To what end does testing make a difference when someone is dying? How far and how much money do we spend to "confirm" that someone is dying?...

In my posts up until now, I have given you "real life" scenarios around end of life issues. I hope that you have been thinking about what your preferences would be were you to find yourself in one of those situations. Yes, there are many other scenarios that I could...