Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Transcription

1 Follow the Yellow Brick Road The Path to Heroic Service (Rev.) Vince Corso, M.Div, LCSW-R Lead Bereavement Counselor VNSNY Hospice & Palliative Care ~ vnsny.org 1

2 Follow the Yellow Brick Road The Path to Heroic Service 2

3 Thank you, Julia and Peter 3 Oh, and Percy Jackson, too! 3

4 We need not risk the adventure alone; for heroes of all time have gone before us. The Labyrinth is thoroughly known. We have only to follow the thread of the hero path. Joseph Campbell 4

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6 My Favorite Hero 6

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9 Your face here. 9

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11 Home The Familiar Community Departure Individuation The Process Decision to Return Trials Testing Growth 11

12 The Ordinary World 12

13 The Ordinary World 13

14 The Call to Adventure 14

15 Questioning of the Call 15

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17 Barriers to beginning the journey Can you say a hearty yes to your adventure. 17

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19 Meeting the Guides 19

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21 Who were, who are, your hero- guides? 21

22 For we have not to risk the adventure alone; the heroes and heroines of all time have gone before us... 22

23 Crossing the Threshold 23

24 Barriers to staying on the journey 24

25 Tests 25

26 Opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves come when life seems most challenging. 26

27 Ordeals 27

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29 I m glad we had that little chat about euthanasia last night 29 Grandma

30 More Ordeals 30

31 2015 It s your mother. She s floated back. 31

32 You enter the forest at the darkest point. Where there is a path, it is someone else s path. If you follow someone else s way, you are not going to realize your potential. 32

33 Questions We Might Ask Why is this happening to me? How will I survive? What will happen when the journey ends? How will I be remembered? Why should I keep going? It s the same path, isn t it? 33

34 The journey is the framework for how we interpret our life, our suffering and our mortality. The journey is where personhood and suffering intersect. 34

35 Reward~Return~Resurrection 35

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37 The Reward of Insight Life has no meaning. Each of us has meaning; we bring it to life. It is a waste to be asking the question when you are the answer. 37

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39 The Reward of Courage Courage is the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means, at the point of highest reality. C.S. Lewis You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. Eleanor Roosevelt 39

40 The Reward of Self-Transcendence When we quit thinking primarily about ourselves and our own self-preservation, we undergo a truly heroic transformation of consciousness. 40

41 Characteristics of Heroic Practice Reconciliation Awe Forgiveness Love Hope Gratitude Humility Surrender 41

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44 Soul pain is reached and healed by the way care is carried out. Cicely Saunders (1967) the patient s sufferings are often not symptoms of disease but of something quite different of the want of fresh air, of light, of warmth, of quiet, of cleanliness, of punctuality and care in diet Florence Nightingale (1859) 44

45 Characteristics of a Hero We recognize compassion as an ethical imperative We meet the special needs of those living with life-limiting illness, and those living with loss We encourage community partnerships We expand our knowledge of current health care policy We maintain an holistic perspective in our care 45 45

46 Characteristics of a Heroic Team Inspirational, Dynamic, Transparent 46

47 Compassion as Heroic Insight To train in compassion is to know that all beings are the same and suffer in similar ways, to honor all those that suffer, and to know that you are neither separate from nor superior to anyone. Soygel Rinpoche 47 47

48 Compassion as a Hero s Emotion We respond with humanity and kindness to each person s pain, distress, anxiety or need. We search for the things we can do, however small, to give comfort and relieve suffering. We find time for those we serve and work alongside. We do not wait to be asked, because we care National Health Service (UK) Constitution

49 The HERO is a bearer of Hope Empathy Reconciliation Opportunity 49

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51 Conclusion One must be willing to let go of the life we planned to have the life that is waiting for us. 51