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de'-pay-se' /  (also de'-pay-see) adj.  removed from one's habitual surroundings. <ORIGIN> early 20th cent.: French, literally '(removed) from one's own country'.

 Ms. Helen.......

 The hospice volunteer

For the most part, hospice care is delivered and administrated by those wonderful folks we call hospice workers.  They include the nurses, nursing assistants, social workers, doctors, administrators and chaplains.  They are trained professionals, and their charge is the complete care of the departing.  Were it not for these kind and good souls hospice care would not exist. 

Hospice volunteers are not hospice workers.  Workers get paid, albeit at times, the compensation may be meager.  Workers do however, receive income with which they sustain themselves.  They are called, but they are also paid.  The volunteer, on the other hand, receives no monetary compensation.  It is this crucial distinction that adds an element of joy and spirituality to his task that others can never know.

The hospice volunteer is a servant, a steward of the final days of life.  The volunteer gets no renumeration or compensation of any kind, thereby making his or her work a pure act of love; and it is only from acts of pure love that miracles can spring.

The hospice volunteer is called to give.  He must give of his time, he must give of his money, he must give of his heart.  And that giving springs only from the love within. The volunteer cannot give from a sense of guilt, or obligation, or desire for recognition.  Were he to base his actions on those things, the work would become like chewing on shards of glass or listening to fingernails on a chalkboard interminably.  The doing of such work is so counterintuitive to any of those motivations that at the onset, one would get the perception of mixing oil and water: a dichotomy which is never able to find solution.

The volunteer, by his sacrifice without renumeration, is able spiritually to reach into a place with the patient that the worker cannot reach.  Like the patient, the volunteer has no need to look at his watch, to worry about the "next case" nor any need to view his actions in light of how a superior will judge them.  Like the patient, the volunteer has no time more important than the present moment, and no witness needing to be impressed.  Like the dying, the volunteer is a free agent, able to determine his own path.

His kinship with the patient extends further.  The patient  has hitherto spent a lifetime trying the accumulate the things necessary to live a good life.  He has tried to prove his points on no end of arguments, he has passionately tried to defend himself and others, and he has agreed and disagreed with reasons and positions one after the other, the likes of which could fill volumes; at least up until these days.  Today, however, there is nothing left to accumulate, nothing left to prove, nothing left to argue.  Today, there is only today, and the volunteer knows that, and for him, there is only today as well, for he knows, from scores of patients past,  that there are many many todays that do not have a tomorrow attached to them.

So friends, the volunteer knows the patient, and he knows what the patient needs.  The volunteer knows he can give love with no strings attached.  The volunteer knows he can let his charge slip away without the desire to call him back.  The volunteer knows he can soothe the pains with no expectation of recognition or of recompense.  The volunteer knows he can release the soul to the angels, and smile as they arrive; being well aware of what lies on the other side.

Join us!!  Become a hospice volunteer with Arkansas Hospice!  Click here for more information!

Suggested reading:

Learnng from the Light.  John Lerma M.D. is  a hospice doctor in Huston, Texas and will probably develop into a signifigant apologist for spiritual existence in our time.  He is committed to consciousness research and to communicating the real meat of the hospice process.  He has two books out that are both easily readable.  You can read more about Dr. Lerma and his good works at his website which is HERE.

Journey of Souls.  Michael Newton Phd.  Dr. Newton is psychologist.  He has a well researched and passionate perspective on consciousness.  I find his writings unlike any other.   Click HERE to view his work.

In writing this book on grieving, Van Praagh hopes to offer comfort and reassurance of eternal life, "so that you do not have to go through the rest of your days groping blindly in sorrow and pain," he explains. Yet Van Praagh also offers doses of his own hard-earned wisdom, keeping this guidebook firmly grounded in an earth-smart kind of reality.

 PMH Atwater is the leading researcher of our time on Near Death Experiences.  All of her books are uplifting on so many levels.  Above is the link to her latest work.

If you are hurting from a loss, or know someone that is , I highly recommend Mr. Van Praagh's online course, "Life after Loss", the link to which can be found HERE.  I can attest to the fact that many people have been helped by his methods.  $39.00 US, but priceless to those for which it serves as a lifeline.

Ever have an interest in contacting a loved one that has crossed to the other side?  Click HERE to go to the web site of my friend Beth Berry.  Top shelf in every respect.