Death is something that we all have to face sooner or later. ‘I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it’ is a common response to this inevitability. Reasonable though this may seem, we may actually be short-changing ourselves in adopting it. This is because facing up to the reality of death can actually enrich our lives by helping us to appreciate how precious life is and how important it is to make the most of it while we can.

These are challenging issues, but that makes it all the more important that we think them through, which is exactly what this course is about. It is divided into five video-based lessons that explore the significance of three sides of facing death. First, it looks at why it is important to be ‘death aware’. Second, it provides an overview of the issues involved in facing someone else’s death – for example, when we learn of the death of someone we care about or find out that someone we love is dying. Third, we explore some of the key issues involved in bereavement. Finally, we focus on our own mortality and why it is pointless and self-defeating to try and evade the fact that we are finite creatures, that death is part of life.

There is also a module companion workbook that you will need to print out before you start the course. It contains space for notes plus an exercise relating to each of the three lessons. This is an important resource for you, as it will help to extend and consolidate your understanding and provide you with a set of notes to act as a reference source for future development.