I wish I knew then....

I love this wonderful blog post from Rev. James Martin, SJ on 12 Things I Wish I Knew at 25: Spiritual Learnings on my 50th Birthday

"Look for the helpers" - the wisdom of Mr. Rogers

In the wake of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the Hospice Foundation of America's Hospice and Caregiving Blog has offered some good, succinct advice on talking to children after a public tragedy.

Another excellent source of advice is Mr. Rogers, whose words on the subject have gone viral on the internet:

"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.' To this day, especially in times of 'disaster' I remember my mother's words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers - so many caring people in this world."

Read more wise advice from Mr. Rogers here: Fred Rogers Company

Favorite books: "Kitchen Table Wisdom"

I loved the book "Kitchen Table Wisdom". I listened to it on tape, which I highly recommend because you get the nuances of inflection in the wise voice of author Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen. But don't take my word for it -- another of my favorites, Jon Kabot-Zinn, highly recommends the book: "A book of stunning radiance, authenticity, and power. I laughed and cried my way through it, from beginning to end....Come share in this extraordinary outpouring of human wisdom Dr. Remen reveals to us in the mirror of her own boundless heart. Don't let an opportunity like this go by."

Here's a link to Dr. Remen's website: http://www.rachelremen.com/

"Keeping Eulogies Alive to Remember the Dead"

An interesting article on eulogies appeared in the Huffington Post's Religion section. You can read it here: Keeping Eulogies Alive to Remember the Dead

Life's precious moments....

The practice of putting a bird on your shoulder

Bernadette Peters sings "Being Alive"

"Learn how to die; learn how to live...."

"If we truly lived with that little bird on our shoulder asking us if we are ready to die today, we would...appreciate every sunset, every walk around the block, every phone call from our parents, every conversation with our friends, every culinary delight..." from Torah with Morrie by Rabbi Boruch Leff.

Read more at this link: Simple to Remember

My Wonderful Life -- a website to help you plan your own funeral

I just keep finding wonderful sites like this. "MyWonderfulLife.com is a free on-line service to help you plan and personalize your own funeral, so it reflects the way you lived...It allows you to eliminate the guesswork for your loved ones during a difficult time....Being able to print out a one-page summary of your wishes, as well as other important information they need to know, will allow your loved ones more time to celebrate your life."

 Here's a link to the site: My Wonderful Life

"Life itself is a gift....."

This lovely offering, from the book A Grateful Heart: Daily Blessings for the Evening Meal from Buddha to the Beatles, says a lot, I think, about why people volunteer in hospice....

"How easily we forget how precious life is! So long as we can remember, we've just been here, being alive. Unlike other things for which we have a comparison -- black to white, day to night, good to bad -- we are so immersed in life that we can see it only in the context of itself. We don't see life as compared to anything, to not-being, for example, to never having been born. Life just is. But life itself is a gift. It's a compliment just being born: to feel, breathe, think, play, dance, sing, work, make love, for this particular lifetime. Today, let's give thanks for life. For life itself! For simple being born!" ~ Daphne Rose Kingma

"Trailing clouds of glory do we come..."

Here is my favorite stanza from William Wordsworth's poem, Intimations of Immortality...

"Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar:
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come,
From God, who is our home."

Click here to read the full poem.

The Oscar-winning Japanese film "Departures"

Here's the trailer for the amazing movie "Departures", which won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film of 2009. It is a beautiful film about honoring the dead and supporting the grieving.

A real find: Obit magazine

I recently discovered a wonderful magazine called Obit. On the "Meet Obit" page it says:


"Death gives life its immediacy. Because we know it will end, we savor and value life all the more. Obit examines life through the lens of death. Whether it’s the loss of a person, a place, an object or an idea, life’s constant change presents an opportunity for examination, discussion and even celebration."
Here's a link to the magazine online: www.obit-mag.com

Michael Singer's breathtakingly wise piece on contemplating death

A truly wonderful piece on contemplating death from the author of "The Untethered Soul". Here's the link: Contemplating Death

Why I got interested in volunteering as a hospice companion

Franciscan Catholic priest. Fr. Richard Rohr, explains better than I ever could why I got interested in hospice volunteering.....

 

On NPR, comedian Tig Notaro talks about using humor to deal with her cancer diagnosis

Great story on NPR about Tig Notaro, a comedian who used humor to deal with her cancer diagnosis. Here's the link to hear the story:

Tig Notaro on going 'live' about her life: NPR

Live from New York.....

A funny/beautiful story about saying goodbye. Here's the link: Bill Murray on Gilda Radner