Hospice Volunters
Beardstown Nov 2006
Entry in my Great Grandmother’s diary…
“Got up this morning to finish chopping the wood. Scrubbed the upstairs floors and saw to the chickens. Puttered around a bit then beat a few carpets. Checked the rain gauge then pulled a few weeds while I was out. Then I woke the men for breakfast.”
My great grandmother was a happy woman…not because her work was easy, but because it was a work of love. It was honest. It was needed. It helped her to give…
And that’s why we’re here tonight. A work of love. We have been blessed with the gift of giving.
Spoke with a lady yesterday …new to our community. She and her husband have lived and worked in New York, San Francisco, the Minneapolis area and have gained a national reputation for their work. In her words, “We’ve never seen anything like this area. Some of the places we’ve lived had friendly people, but it seems like around here, everyone is involved in helping others in some way or another.” The thing that impressed her most are the large number of people involved in philanthropic causes.
We are truly blessed to live in an area where our best movers and shakers are also the best givers.
The Joy of Giving Love --- Group of students at Triopia some 20 years ago…formed a Volunteer Squad…got huge and wonderful. Then they got a grant. Killed it. --- A church I knew.. small. Struggled. Bake sales, potlucks, all work on church done with volunteer help. Then tragedy struck.. a loyal member died and left the church around a million bucks. The spirit died. --- Mentioned to my seventh-graders last year…arguing.. 30,000 kids will die tonight. The next day a little blonde boy with very thick glasses came up with an idea… He said that God told him he was supposed to do something. They are. ---Brian.. clowns… nursing homes.
Giving of ourselves is a necessity. It’s not just a nice thing to do or an obligation. It’s a necessity to keep our mental health. Take a walk through any nursing home or convalescent center. People are slowly dying, not so much from physical problems, as a lack of meaning and purpose for their lives.
Think of all the things you do…I’ll bet that the things you enjoy most are those for which you are paid nothing.
Performing Arts Camp. .. we have the lowest ratio of staff to campers of any camp I know of. Staff members are literally standing in line to work there. Why? Because we don’t pay a thing.
And I don’t buy the theory that we volunteer our time..that we are altruistic.. just to relieve our guilt. It’s bigger than that. We don’t feel that guilty. There’s just an outside chance that Christ might have been right. It may truly be more blessed to give than to receive.
Blessed to be raised by giving parents in a giving community. Dad: spanked: 10cent vs. 15cent coke. Fire: $500
Giving Centers us on what’s important... Hiney the Mule Jim Kern: Mrs. Brown
Giving heals ourselves... Becky E...funerals James Dobson….Monopoly
Albert Sweitzer… “The only ones among us who are truly happy are those who have sought and found out how to serve.”
Sometimes: Just giving joy: Matt..baritone
Dr. Charles Menninger… Nervous breakdown
Good friend..Dr. Thomas Bunting..Pike County.. elderly population… basically spent the last ten years of his practice telling families that their loved ones had died in the next room. He told me that the main reason to retired and moved to New Mexico was “America is a great place to live. But when it comes to dying, we have a lot to learn.”
Hospice has the most glorious mission… to make the final chapter of our lives as sweet as the others.
My very good friend was sitting with his mother a year ago March in J’ville. She was under hospice care. Her final goal..Easter baskets for each of her 12 grandchildren. Because of hospice, she finished the last one this morning..her morphine pills allow her to have one coherent hour out of five. The last basket got done. She died in a room full of people who love her…her Easter baskets got finished.
There are those who actively work for Hospice and there are those of us who contribute…. All are equally valuable…all are equally needed.
One of the biggest reasons for the success of Hospice: The typical hospice worker doesn’t much about being thanked. Conway Twitty
You’ve heard enough of politics this month, and this is not a political endorsement, but…. Lisa Capote, Hillary Clinton’s press secretary, quoted the motto that her staff tried to live by: “Service is the rent we pay for living.” Thanks for paying rent tonight. Thanks for giving. May the joy you get, be all the reward you need.
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