The ad hoc committee on Death and Dying with the support of CRIS and the Cazenovia Public Library will be offering several interesting presentations and discussion groups over the next few months. In February we will focus on our legacy including writing a ‘living obituary.’ March will bring a look at Alternative Burials and in April we will offer another Five Wishes workshop.
We have a special presentation for January on a topic that will be of interest to people of all ages and spiritual/religious persuasions: where does our culture’s death phobia come from and is there anything we can do to change that.
Brother Tolbert McCarroll, a Catholic monk, spoke to this issue 40 years ago, writing “dying is not separate from living. You will die as you have lived. If you have been self-centered in life then when you are dying you will focus on what you are losing. (But) if you have felt yourself to be part of a story…then your dying will be a time of honesty….and most of all a time of completeness.” He went on …” your death can assist you in life. Death is not the enemy. The…. realization that you will someday die can sharpen your awareness of what it means to live.”
In 2015, Stephen Jenkinson, the author of a book entitled “Die Wise,” presented his answers to the age-old issues around dying: Is there such a thing as good dying? Can grief be a skill to embrace instead of an affliction? How can seeing your life’s end be the beginning of a deep love of being alive?
Jenkinson has a master’s degree in Theology from Harvard and a masters in Social Work from the University of Toronto. He has worked extensively with dying people for the last 40 years as a specialist in palliative care and as a consultant in palliative care to hospitals and hospice organizations. He is creator and principal instructor of the Orphan Wisdom school, founded in 2010.
Jenkinson and his work are the subject of a new documentary, Griefwalker, a lyrical and poetic portrait of his interventions with dying people. The film and Jenkinson’s work have garnered a lot of attention recently in Canada and the US. Due to the length of the film (70min), we will be starting the program at 6:30 in the Community room of the Cazenovia Public library. This will leave an hour for the discussion to follow, which will be led by Maggie Dulany of Syracuse. Maggie is a graduate of the Marriage and Family Therapy program at S.U. She has extensive experience working with individuals and families and has long been interested in the psycho- spiritual aspects of aging and dying.
Please join us for this very special program taking place on Wednesday, January 17 at 6:30 at the Library. For more information or to be added to the event series list, please contact CRIS at [email protected] or call 315-655-5743.
