Prayer for Hospice Workers

In our Hospice Interdisciplinary Team Meeting last week, I shared (a modified version of ) a prayer written by Elizabeth Kaeton. The prayer is titled "Prayers for All Who Work In Hospice", and is aimed specifically at hospice staff.  But this prayer is for anyone working long hours caring for others, so, if that is YOU, then this prayer is for you.

I N V I T A T I O N A L     P A U S E  . . .

Before receiving the prayer, I invite you to take a moment, even as you read now, to allow a softer, deeper, more beautiful B R E A T H to fall in, and gently out. . .  Remembering that letting go of tension allows blood-flow, increased oxygen and nutrients to all parts of your body, including the brain, supporting clearer, more creative thinking. Let your muscles hang heavy off your bones, just for these 3-4 minutes . . . softening the scalp, gentling the tiny muscles around your eyeballs, letting the jaw and tongue go, neck, shoulders now, then soft heaviness down your arms, hands, uncurling the fingers. . . little muscles between your ribs releasing, allowing more space for the breath to expand outwards, blood flow to all your digestive organs, warmth and ease of belly, hips, heavy the long muscles of the thighs, down into knees, calves, ankles and feet, soft the feet and tiny toe muscles. . . rest for a moment, dear feet, who carry so much on such a small surface through our days. . .



And now, in your soft openness, may Kaeton's prayer be of value to you today:

Prayer for Hospice Workers
Elizabeth Kaeton (modified version)

May the passion you have for life light the compassion you have for others.
May you know that when you do small things with great love you change lives.
May the blessings you receive mean more than the hours you work.
May you remember to keep both feet on the ground while tending to those who have one foot in in the Unknown.
May you be grateful that your daily encounter with death and dying brings you a deeper appreciation of life and living.
May you never lose sight of the fact that what really matters is not the length of life, but the depth of it.
May your work be grounded in the knowledge that grief is the emotional, physical and spiritual expression the priceless gift of love, and that the only cure for grief is grieving (or, the pouring out of that love, through tears)
May you know that while no one may build a monument in your name, the way you make your mark in this life is by erasing the frown on someone’s brow.
And, may you start each day remembering the last words spoken by Steve Jobs before he died: “Oh wow! Oh wow! Oh wow!”
Amen. (May it be so.)

[Details of his final moments came from Job's sister Mona Simpson, who has allowed the New York Times to publish the eulogy she delivered at his memorial service on 16 October.]

See Steve Jobs giving an inspiring speech about his life:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tuw8hxrFBH8

In speaking about not only his own life, but life in general, for all of us, Jobs says:
“You can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to somehow TRUST that the dots will somehow connect in your future.” 
 
I agree, and, being not ancient but certainly far enough along to have connected my fair share of dots in life, I can say that I fully lift up
the gift to be had in stepping into, and LIVING from, that place of trust –
and that is when we Trust that we soften our shields,
which is the very thing that allows us to
fully engage in all our precious moments. 

Today, my wish for you is that you trust the dots, as they come, even when their relevance is far from sight, and that somewhere down the line, the connections will reveal themselves. My wish is that that you allow yourself a softening into this trust, and that
each moment you have today –
however it hits you –
is rich
and fully yours.
 
Blessings On Your Day, Dear Friends.