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MEDINA, Ohio -- When Neal Sadler left his position as pastor of Medina’s United Church of Christ after eight years and retired from the ministry in 2016, he decided to write a book about his experiences serving people in their last days of life.
After four years of writing and editing, he has produced a 300-page book with 80 brief chapters -- each detailing an experience with a dying parishioner.
The book is titled “Looking for Life on the Way to the Grave, Pastoral Journeys amidst the Dying and Grieving.” Pictured on the book’s cover is a gravestone standing beside daffodils blooming in the snow.
“In the end, the stories are uniquely mine and my parishioners’,” Sadler said. “They reflect my style, personality, theology and approach to ministry. They reflect my strengths, weaknesses, struggles and faith. They reflect the challenges, dreams, fears, courage, humor and tears of my fellow travelers.”
Each chapter title is a statement or question that someone said relating to that chapter’s story. Chapter 1 is titled “Dad’s Dying, Can You Come Over?” and tells the story of the first time Sadler, as a pastor, faced someone who was dying and their family.
He questioned his ability to help: “Who was I to bring comfort to the dying? I was not yet 30 years old. I had read the Bible and studied theology. I had taken pastoral care classes. Death was more a stranger to me than to the one I sought to minister.”
He successfully comforted the dying man and his family and performed the funeral service.
“The routine never became routine. No two persons are the same. Every life is sacred and uniquely celebrated,” he said.
Chapter 2, titled “Grandpa Is Asleep and Won’t Wake Up,” tells Sadler’s story of his own first encounter with death. While on a family shopping trip, 3-year-old Neal and his 5-year-old brother were left in a car with their grandpa. Grandpa suddenly died of a massive heart attack, leaving the boys scared and confused.
Sadler goes on to write: “In the days and weeks following, I began to understand a little more about death. I knew Grandpa was gone. He went to heaven, and heaven was a good place.”
Two years later, Sadler’s puppy Brownie was tragically killed by a neighbor’s car.
“I learned more about death from Brownie -- shock, grief, loss, sadness, anger, regret.”
He continues, “Often through the death of a family dog, cat, guinea pig or hamster, children first encounter death and the finality and ubiquity of death. Something precious, something living, is taken away, and will never come back.”
In a phone interview, Sadler said: “People think pastors have all the answers about God, but we’re still on the same journey. My journeys as a pastor all relate to the doubts, fears and joys we encountered.”
The book is very readable and almost conversational.
Published by Medina County-based publisher Sigel Press, the book is available for preorder at www.sigelpress.com. The printed book should be ready around Dec. 7.
Passages from the book have been reprinted in this article with permission from the publisher, Sigel Press.
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