What Is a Certified Hospice Spiritual Master?
A Certified Hospice Spiritual Master is a soul that has been called by the Divine Spirit to spiritually walk with another soul on their journey to the end of life, in the tradition of the Ancient Hospice Way.
Their Certification is a recognition of the calling by God in their life to this holy companionship, as well as an acknowledgment of the gifts and graces, the training and the commitment which enables one to compassionately walk with a fellow soul completing life’s journey on the Earth.
Perhaps relating the Certified Hospice Spiritual Master to the modern health care community is helpful. In health care there are individuals whose role is to provide basic care for the body, such as bathing, shaving and dressing (called ADL’s or activities for daily living). They are essential to modern health care, and no hospital or assisted living facility could stay open, day after day, without the compassionate care of these folks called Certified Nursing Assistants ( termed CNA’s). Yet in health care there are also professional caregivers that have completed medical school, a rigorous internship and residency, and now, after years of training and experience, serve patients as a family doctor in a practice. The roles and training are quite different, yet each is a valued member of the health care profession.
The Certified Hospice Spiritual Master (CHSM) is very much like the CNA, with the crucial difference of providing basic care of the soul instead of basic care for the body. The ordained and endorsed hospice chaplain would be like the educated and trained family physician. Both roles are important and necessary for soulful care in our modern world. The hospice chaplain would benefit from becoming a Certified Hospice Spiritual Master, for by joining a community that provides basic spiritual care of the soul the chaplain could connect with persons and resources for enriching the soulful nature of a patient’s hospice journey.
It is the vision of the Association of the Hospice Spiritual Masters that the credential of Certified Hospice Spiritual Master would become the normative credential for spiritual care providers in each hospice in the United States.
In the year 2023, there were 8,796 hospice and palliative care centers in America, and so there is an enormous potential for the program to certify Hospice Spiritual Masters within the hospice movement.
It is important to point out what the Certified Hospice Spiritual Master is NOT. They are NOT trained and licensed professional counselors and therapists. They do NOT take the place of hospice chaplains or ordained clergy of faith communities. The CHSM does NOT pretend to be a long-term spiritual director, such as one trained at Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation.
The Certified Hospice Spiritual Master is a soul providing compassionate spiritual care both inside and outside the traditional hospice movement, as well as inside and outside of faith communities of all faiths. The care of the CHSM can also be in secular settings, such as a Garden Club or a civic group like the VFW or the Ruritans. The CHSM may also provide basic soul care in a military or a civilian setting.
A Case Study of how the Hospice Spiritual Master functions in the modern world may be helpful. Take care of an 85-year-old widow (Mary S.) who has recently moved from a retirement home in Florida after the passing of her husband. The move was at the instance of her two adult children to be closer to their families in the Northern Virginia area. Mary was recently diagnosed with terminal bone cancer. After extensive chemotherapy, Mary was nauseous every day, felt tired and very lethargic. She was a person of faith (Methodist) but had not yet connected with a faith community in the new area where she relocated. Mary was now wrestling with the question of whether to end the aggressive treatment for her cancer and try to enjoy as much as possible her remaining life with her children and grandchildren by entering hospice care in a local hospice. Mary found herself in a life situation where it was a struggle to find a person of faith with whom she could openly share her soul’s questions. She did not want to burden her children with this issue, and she felt they would oppose her ending her aggressive medical care. She had no connection with a local faith community or member of the clergy. A hospice chaplain was not available as Mary had not yet entered hospice care.
However, Mary had been attending a yoga class in the local Senior Citizen Center and become close friends with the neighbor who lived next door and attended the same class. While having a personal conversation over a cup of tea at the kitchen table in Mary’s home, Mary quietly opened up about her soul’s struggle to end her cancer treatment. Her dear friend shared that she was a Hospice Spiritual Master and so a compassionate relationship of soul care began at Mary’s kitchen table. Soulful care entered Mary’s life in her home that day though the presence of a Hospice Spiritual Master.
This informal work of the Certified Hospice Master , repeated far and wide in our society today, is the vision that drives the work of the Association of Hospice Spiritual Masters. The Certified Hospice Spiritual Master may turn up in the most unlikely places, such as being a waitress at a truck stop or a bartender in a local hangout. Perhaps the person sitting next to you in a pew is a Certified Hospice Spiritual Master, or maybe they are your friend in the Lion’s Club you attend.
The Hospice Spiritual Master continues the Divine hospitality that forms the foundation of the Ancient Hospice Way. St. Benedict of Nursia wrote in his Rule that the Rule revolves around five practices: Prayer, Work, Study, Hospitality and Renewal. Welcoming all as the presence of Christ to the monastic infirmary in the Middle Ages remains the spiritual heartbeat of the modern Inpatient Care Center in the hospice movement today.
This Divine hospitality was also extended to weary travelers in the Middle Ages by monks of the Oder of St. Augustine who formed early hospices for all in need. The visits of modern-day hospice workers to patients in homes and health care facilities continues once again this Ancient Hospice Way of Divine compassion for those suffering in our world.
It is this ancient tradition of Divine hospitality in the name of the Eternal One that is carried forward by the Association of Hospice Spiritual Masters. The Divine Spirit has unlimited uses for the soulful care of the Certified Hospice Spiritual Master in our modern world!