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Category Archives: Death
On Not Waiting to Be the Hummingbird (redux)
The Life and Death of Lee Hawkins First Unitarian Church of Albuquerque July 14, 2019 A quarter century ago, I asked the coordinator of my grandmother’s hospice care, how my grandmother was doing – not medically, but spiritually. She said … Continue reading
A Visit to Steelmantown Cemetery
I don’t remember ever needing or wanting a burial spot, though I do remember thinking about it from an early age. When one looks at my family, there are many ways to respond to the dead human body and the … Continue reading
Posted in Death, Travelogue
Tagged Ed Bixby, green burial, green burial preserve, Steelmantown Cemetery
3 Comments
Befriending Death: An Excursion (sermon)
The Unitarian Society, East Brunswick, NJ Our reading can be found here. Dylan Thomas’ most famous lines are these: Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against … Continue reading
A Prayer for Liminal Time
A liminal time, this… when the veil between life and death grows thin, when the rhythm of day drawing breath shows itself in the crackle of umber leaves, in the moon rising low in blue autumn sky. Many named: Samhain, … Continue reading
Posted in Death, Prayers, Unitarian Universalism
Tagged all souls, day of the dead, grief, liminal time, loss, May Sarton, mystery, prayer, samhain
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Adieu Enlivened Stardust
The enlivened stardust called Otis these past twelve years has been returned to the earth. We knew it was coming. Thought it still yet days away, but the night just past harder than any soul should have to bear, so … Continue reading
On Not Waiting to be the Hummingbird (sermon)
On Not Waiting to be the Hummingbird: The Life and Death of Lee Hawkins First Parish Church of Groton May 24, 2015 [For audio version, click here.] Two decades ago, I had the chance to speak with the coordinator of … Continue reading
Tiny Resurrections: Easter Sunrise 2015 (sermon)
The loss has been real. The darkness. Its apparent permanence. Hope cruelly stolen. Two millennia ago, we could not speak in the past tense, as we do now. We wouldn’t have found the rock rolled back, not quite yet. We … Continue reading
Posted in Death, Hope, Sermons, Unitarian Universalism
Tagged Denise Levertov, Easter, empty tomb, grief, Kate Braestrup, nature, resurrection, sunrise, The Fountain, tiny resurrections
2 Comments
Winning His Battle with Brain Cancer: A Good Man Has Died
Yesterday, my friend Mark Green died. We knew each other in college. In our first year, we narrowly avoided a one-night stand without loss of dignity or friendship. In later years, at mutual friends’ wedding, our girls turned out to … Continue reading
Posted in Death
Tagged accelerate brain cancer cure, brain cancer, Death, Hamilton College, Mark Green, Steel Wheels concert
5 Comments
Memento Mori (poem – video)
If all you do with this post is spend 4:15 minutes watching this clip, that is enough. But there is a bit of (con)text below… [youtube=http://youtu.be/4eAgUx508hg] Memento Mori is a Latin term. It has multiple translations, all approaching a concept … Continue reading