In response to this question I am going to exclude tragic deaths – the death of the young or "train wreck" deaths. I exclude them simply because of the difficulty of rationalizing them in any way as "good." Here I will speak of lives that followed a normal course from birth to death. Since happiness in life and a fulfilled, graceful death are desirable goals; we can define a happy life as one with purpose and fulfillment (not necessarily a life of privilege and ease) and culminating in a death which incorporates the same. For as adverse circumstances and the pain of life can be joyfully met and overcome, so can those of death. It is immensely helpful in life and death if one sees that human existence has long-term dimensions whose purposes extend from before birth and beyond the grave. It thus is difficult to avoid the conclusion that people of faith have an advantage in living and dying well.
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