Inspirational Thoughts:

“You matter to the last moment of your life. And we will do all we can, not only to help you die peacefully, but to help you live until you die.”
- Cicely Saunders, founder of the modern hospice movement

 
Ten Strong Things (from the Talmud)
A Buddhist Story
Let Evening Come, by Jane Kenyon
Companioning, by Alan Wolfelt, MD
Dying Person's Bill of Rights


Ten Strong Things, From Talmud
Iron is strong, but fire melts it.
Fire is strong, but water quenches it.
Water is strong, but sun evaporates it.
The Sun is strong, but clouds can cover it.
Clouds are strong, but the wind can drive them away.
Wind is strong, but man can shut it down.
Man is strong, but fear casts him down.
Fear is strong, but sleep overcomes it.
Sleep is strong, but death is stronger.
But the strongest is KINDNESS.
KINDNESS survives death.
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A Buddhist Story, as told by Pema Chodron
A woman was being chased by tigers. They were gaining on her and she was exhausted, drained. She came to the edge of a cliff that had a vine growing down it. The woman decided to climb down in hopes of escape. When she was half-way down, she heard a noise and looked up—the tigers had arrived. She looked below to her escape only to see tigers there, too! In a panic, she looked up again and saw not only the tiger, but also a mouse chewing on the vine! She looked about in fear and noticed a beautiful strawberry plant with one ripe strawberry. The woman looked at her predicament from all directions—tigers above, tigers below, and a mouse eating her lifeline! Then she did the only reasonable thing: she reached out and plucked the strawberry, popped it into her mouth and enjoyed it thoroughly. Her last word was “sweet!”
The Buddhist meaning of the story goes like this:
As long as we are humans we are stuck between Birth and Death, we are caught between tigers. The only way to cope well is to reach out for the joy that is possible in any moment. This is our hospice work also—to help people find their strawberry-of-the-day, to reach it and to enjoy life, as the tigers draw near.
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Let Evening Come, by Jane Kenyon
Let the light of late afternoon
shine through chinks in the barn, moving
up the bales as the sun moves down.
 
Let the crickets take up chafing
as a woman takes up her needles
and her yarn. Let evening come.
 
Let dew collect on the hoe abandoned
in the long grass. Let the stars appear
and the moon disclose her silver horn.
 
Let the fox go back to its sandy den.
Let the wind die down. Let the shed
go black inside. Let evening come.
 
To the bottle in the ditch, to the scoop
in the oats, to the air in the lung
let evening come.
 
Let it come, as it will, and don’t
be afraid. God does not leave us
comfortless, so let evening come.
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Companioning, by Alan Wolfelt, MD
Companioning is about honoring the spirit;
it is not about focusing on the intellect.
Companioning is about curiosity;
it is not about expertise.
Companioning is about learning from others;
it is not about teaching them.
Companioning is about walking alongside;
it is not about leading or being led.
Companioning is about being still;
it is not about frantic movement forward.
Companioning is about discovering the gifts of sacred silence;
it is not about filling every painful moment with talk.
Companioning is about listening with the heart;
it is not about analyzing with the head.
Companioning is about bearing witness to the struggle of others;
it is not about judging or directing those struggles.
Companioning is about being present to another person’s pain;
it is not about taking away or relieving the pain.
Companioning is about respecting disorder and confusion;
it is not about imposing order and logic.
Companioning is about going to the wilderness of the soul with another human being;
it is not about thinking you are responsible for finding the way out.
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The Dying Person's Bill of Rights

*I have the right to be treated as a living human being until I die *I have the right to maintain a sense of hopefulness, however changing its focus may be
*I have a right to be cared for by those who can maintain a sense of hopefulness, however changing this might be
*I have a right to express my feelings and emotions about my approaching death in my own way
*I have the right to participate in decisions concerning my care
*I have the right to expect continuing medical and nursing attention even though cure goals have been changed to goals of comfort
*I have the right to die alone or not to die alone
*I have the right to be free from pain
*I have the right to have my questions answered honestly
*I have the right not to be deceived
*I have the right to have help from and for my family in accepting my death
*I have the right to die in peace and dignity
*I have the right to retain my individuality and not be judged for my decisions even if they are contrary to the beliefs of others
*I have the right to expect that the sanctity of the human body will be respected after death
*I have the right to be cared for by caring, sensitive, knowledgeable people who will attempt to understand my needs and will be able to gain some satisfaction in helping me face death
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Copyright © Chelsea Jewish Foundation, 2009