A Walk Down the Ancient Path of Hospice Spiritual Care: Our Christian Heritage
A Reflection on The Spiritual heritage of hospice
The Transforming Power of “Hospes”
In my book,” Journeying to the End of Life. Discovering the Ancient Way of Companioning the Dying”, I present the case that there is an eons old spiritual tradition of companioning the dying that I term, “The Ancient Hospice Way”. Each reader can review the historical record shared and decide for themselves the validity of this tradition.
Hospices of antiquity were significantly different from what we see in the current hospice movement. A hospice of the Middle Ages served to provide care for all of those in need, and they were not the specialized end of life care facilities that we associate with hospice today. In the Roman Catholic tradition, hospices of times past were places of hospitality for the sick, wounded or dying, as well as for travelers and pilgrims.
However, there is a common thread that binds together the medieval hospice and say the modern hospice inpatient care facility: the focus on offering compassionate soulful hospitality for those suffering in life.
It is the Latin word “hospes” that connects us to this heritage of modern hospice work. This word means both “guest” and “host”. The true meaning is “guest-friend”, such as being welcomed by another at their house, as well as you are welcoming a friend to your house.
From this “hospes” is also derived our understanding of hospitality. There is a soulful character which is the most fundamental feature of “hospes”. This soul nature is revealed in the opening of your life to another and their sharing of life with you. In medieval hospices and in hospice care today, soulful care is seen as holistic, involving care of the body, heart and soul.
This soulful hospitality is, I believe, rapidly being lost in modern hospice work today. Hospice care in America is undergirded financially by the Medicare Benefit, and so the medical community is “in the driver’s seat” in hospice today.
The soulful nature of end of life has been relegated to primarily the hospice chaplain at best, with perhaps other ancillary disciplines touching on soulful companioning, such as music therapists or volunteers. However, soulful hospitality is not in the mainstream of the modern hospice movement.
The Association of Hospice Spiritual Masters seeks to bring the soulful heritage of the end-of-life journey more fully into the hospice picture today. It is truly a soul and not just a terminally ill body that is making the journey to the end of life.
Regardless of the particular discipline of the health care provider, and regardless of whether a hospice companion is a family member, friend or other loved one, there are timeless ways that a soul can be companioned at the end of life. The mission of the Association of Hospice Spiritual Masters is to make available to all hospice caregivers’ soulful ways to walk with those ending the journey of life on the Earth.
The leading edge of the Baby Boomer generation, some 70 plus million strong, is now entering the time of end-of-life hospice care. This generation of Americans expresses deep spiritual interest in Eastern religions, new age spiritualty and the Christian contemplative tradition, but at the same time many Boomers feel alienated from traditional Christian faith communities. The Association of Hospice Spiritual Masters is available to help meet the spiritual needs of this generation by enabling soulful “hospes” to be a vital part of their hospice care.
The goal of the Association is to share practical tools and techniques that foster soulful hospitality, so that this eon old care of the soul can be provided by both professional and lay caregivers who companion those at the end of life. Through training/mentoring programs, the Association seeks to keep alive in our modern world the beautiful craft of soulful companionship in hospice care. In the personal “soulful coaching” program, the art of soulful end of life care is continued today. Those who complete the training and mentoring programs of the Association, demonstrate their ability to provide soulful hospitality, and confirm a calling by Divine Spirit to be hospice spiritual companions can be certified as “Hospice Spiritual Masters” in the tradition of the Ancient Hospice Way.
