Cardiologist writes book about God's presence with dying patients

By Electa Draper
The Denver Post
12/27/2010

When Littleton cardiologist Mark Sheehan steps into the room of a dying person he feels as if he should take off his shoes.

"It's holy ground," Sheehan said. "God always shows up."

When a patient lies near death in a hospital, Sheehan calls it "a dying room." It's a place where suffering, pain, humility, fear and soul-searching lead to what he calls "a special brokenness" or openness to God.

"It becomes a place where the sacred replaces the mundane," he wrote in his just-released book, "Healing Prayer On Holy Ground," co-authored by his son Chris Sheehan.

Yet, Mark Sheehan said, no one wants to go into the room of dying patients, who are often — for a time — angry with doctors, family or friends. They are often depressed, inconsolable or afraid.

In the dying rooms, he said, he often feels unworthy. the rest