Sublime

I don’t kid myself; I know I can’t do this by myself. So I do my own kind of handing over. I hand over the mystery of death to God, and I hand myself over to the mystery of my vocation: to be there for these folks, living and dead. I am the divining rod in their search for the holy in their lives. I have confidence in these moments, because I know

These acts of mercy, love, and compassion are not magical but hypostatic, and they are hypostatic because they gift the one ministered to with the new narrative arc of Jesus himself.

‘Attention is the beginning of devotion,’ writes the poet Mary Oliver,

From two until three I sat in Willie’s room, reading, and between three and half-past I did what I could for Willie while he died.

your first duty is to love yourself into Wholeness. How to do this? By pampering yourself with simple pleasures and small indulgences. By treating yourself like the baby you are right now. Could you bring home something wonderful for dinner tonight from a Chinese or Indian takeaway? Could you treat yourself to a glorious bunch of native wildflowers

While most Americans do not want to die in a hospital, the reality is, most will. What can be done in a hospital to bring intentionality and compassion to that experience? What can be done to ensure that our medical system, full of life-saving machinery and drugs, does not eclipse the power of the heart, companioning models of working with grief, o

Begin this week with a pad and pen. Browse through the rooms of your home meditatively. Let the Divine spirits of simplicity, order, harmony, and beauty accompany you. Really look at your surroundings—your furniture and decorative accessories. Give thanks for your home exactly as it exists today. Now begin the inquiry. Ask each possession, are you