Today is Father’s Day. Ten years ago while in a bookstore in Highlands, North Carolina, an orange leaf on a book cover caught my attention. I read the title “Parting – A Handbook for Spiritual Care Near the End of Life.” 

My initial thought, “It’s too late for that book.” My dad had passed away in April and the grief was raw in June.  I had believed he would live for many more decades due to his love of life and learning. But everyone was blindsided when he was diagnosed in March.  

Instead of passing by the book, I picked it up and read the Foreword, which included:

… Spiritual care for the purpose of this handbook is soul care, helping the human spirit in its search for peace. It is the attempt to help those near the end of life feel whole, fulfilled, and in harmony with their world and higher power. Religious experience may or may not be spiritual, and spiritual experience may or may not be religious. Regardless of the dying person’s religion or persuasion or faith tradition, spiritual care near the end of life supplies a deep human need.

My personal grief provided an heightened awareness of the collective grief. My dad had ensured everything was in order, but that orderliness didn’t lessen the grief, sorrow or the immense loss I felt and experienced.

Continue reading “Helping the Human Spirit in Its Search for Peace” →