It’s been almost two years since I produced an episode of this goofy little podcast featuring the thoughts and words of a man I admire a great deal: Dr. George Sheehan.  There’s no specific reason for that…episode 258 titled “Dr. George Sheehan: Seeing” was my reading of the final chapter of his book “Running and Being – The Total Experience”, probably his best known work.

Cardiologist, Philosopher, author and record setting marathoner, Dr. George Sheehan was diagnosed, in 1986, with inoperable prostate cancer.  By the time it was discovered, it had already spread to his bones.  He fought with the disease for seven years, living each day to it’s top.  His last book “Going the Distance: One Man’s Journey to the end of his life” was all about the experience of dying from the perspective of a runner…or better put, someone like us who sees value in our life and accepts pain, sweat and exhaustion as a way to live well.

“Going the Distance” was published shortly after his death.

Today I’m going to read for you a chapter from this book titled “Facing the Future”.  We seem to talk about death quite a bit on this podcast, which means that at least during your listening of such episodes as Fdip286 “The Rationality of Fear and Road Races”, you and I are exploring the idea of death.  I maintain that death is not something that we can rationally fear: and Dr. Sheehen agrees.

You can find a copy of “Going the Distance” on Amazon.com I’ll have the link in the show notes.

I really feel that this chapter is one that you should be listening to when you’re out on the road getting your miles in, if possible.  I understand that some of you can’t do that, but if you can…I want to urge you to hold off on listening further until you’re lacing up your shoes and opening up your own squeaky front door.  

This is a chapter about pain and the agonizing pursuit of the self.  It’s a deeply personal chapter that reveals a lot of the inner philosophy that Dr. Sheehan held dear.  He talks about religion, his perception of Christ, and about his life, beyond death, facing the future.


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The song  “All My Days” was by Alexi Murdoch off the album “Time Without Consequence”  http://www.aleximurdoch.com 
 
Happily Ever After: http://neilbearse.com

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