On the ninth of each month we have been called to hold space in our communities on life, death and transformation by ObservetheNinth.org. Today’s vigil will hold space for love and compassion for all who are oppressed by systemic injustice and by the weight of grief and fear. May it bring you peace and comfort.
Rainer Maria Rilke, Sonnets to Orpheus II, 29
Quiet friend who has come so far,
feel how your breathing makes more space around you.
Let this darkness be a bell tower
and you the bell. As you ring,
what batters you becomes your strength.
Move back and forth into the change.
What is it like, such intensity of pain?
If the drink is bitter, turn yourself to wine.
In this uncontainable night,
be the mystery at the crossroads of your senses,
the meaning discovered there.
And if the world has ceased to hear you,
say to the silent earth: I flow.
To the rushing water, speak: I am.
Learn how to restore sacredness to grief and embrace those who are often excluded from the shared grief experience.
My guest Joél Simone Anthony is a licensed funeral director and sacred grief practitioner in Atlanta, Georgia. She utilizes spirituality that is deeply rooted in ancient wisdom in her work guiding families toward healing after a death has occurred. Joél is also a leader in the movement to expose and heal systemic racism in death care and teaches cultural competency courses for funeral professionals. Learn more about her work at her website:
Check out the Series I’ve recorded in the past here
Join the team atPatreon.com/eoluand get access to the EOLU mug: “Mind if we talk about death?” (only Patrons can purchase it). PLUS get our new bonuses: the monthly EOL News Update, movie reviews from 2 Doctors and a Movie, and automatic access to A Year of Reading Dangerously!
If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes! Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu! Your contributions make all the difference!
Learn how grief and loss can be the fuel for spiritual growth.
My guest Brian Smith is a certified life coach and grief guide who suffered his own grief experience after the tragic death of his daughter. Through his personal journey of navigating grief he discovered techniques for surviving loss that led to writing the book: Grief 2 Growth: Planted, Not Buried and creating the Grief 2 Growth Podcast. He shares the wisdom he has learned and how dealing with grief can help us grow spiritually as individuals and as a community. Learn more at his website:
Check out the Series I’ve recorded in the past here
Join the team atPatreon.com/eoluand get access to the EOLU mug: “Mind if we talk about death?” (only Patrons can purchase it). PLUS get our new bonuses: the monthly EOL News Update, movie reviews from 2 Doctors and a Movie, and automatic access to A Year of Reading Dangerously!
If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes! Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu! Your contributions make all the difference!
Special Event Hosted by Alua Arthur of Going with Grace:
“Sayin it Louder: A Conversation about “A Good Death” in a racist society”
Wednesday June 10th – 4 pm Pacific/7 pm Eastern
An online panel discussion with Alua Arthur and five Black leaders in the end-of-life space. Don’t miss this important conversation. Register at the link below:
Recognize that racism is everywhere, including within me, no matter how liberal or educated or conscious or caring I am.
Racism in America is like dust in the air: It seems invisible–even if you’re choking on it–until you let the sun in. Then you see it’s everywhere.”
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Listen and learn from people different from me.
It’s up to all of us—Black, white, everyone—no matter how well-meaning we think we might be, to do the honest, uncomfortable work of rooting it out. It starts with self-examination and listening to those whose lives are different from our own.
Michelle Obama
Be “un-fragile” and hold myself accountable for my unconscious bias and racism.
It is white people’s responsibility to be less fragile; people of color don’t need to twist themselves into knots trying to navigate us as painlessly as possible.”
Robin DiAngelo
Be “anti-racist” rather than “not a racist.”
The beauty of anti-racism is that you don’t have to pretend to be free of racism to be an anti-racist. Anti-racism is the commitment to fight racism wherever you find it, including in yourself. And it’s the only way forward.”
Ijeoma Oluo
Shine light on the shadow of racism and bring love to every situation.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Passed On: African American Mourning Stories – a memorial by Karla FC Holloway (Amazon)
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo, PhD (Amazon / Bookshop)
How To Be Antiracist by Ibram X Kendi (Amazon / Bookshop)
White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide by Carol Anderson (Amazon / Bookshop)
Raising Our Hands: How White Women Can Stop Avoiding Hard Conversations, Start Accepting Responsibility, and Find Our Place on the New Frontlines by Jenna Arnold out June 23, 2020 (Amazon / Bookshop)
When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and asha bandele (Amazon / Bookshop)
How To Be Less Stupid About Race: On Racism, White Supremacy, and the Racial Divide by Crystal M Fleming (Amazon / Bookshop)
So You Wanna Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo (Amazon / Bookshop)
