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SACH
Soundings
No
15 December 2003
Contents
Musings from
Costa del Dornoch
Derek
Brown President, SACH
By anyone’s standards this summer has been good. The kind
of summer that we all recall from our childhood where skies were blue
and the sun beat down enough to make the tar on the road bubble. Holidays
are even more appealing than normal in this sort of weather when we
may enjoy a break from our normal activities and do something for ourselves.
It’s important that we take the time to relax and recharge the batteries
so that when we return refreshed to our labours we may see things in
a slightly different light. So our holidays provide us with a time to
reflect upon events or perhaps the opportunity simply to forget.
As far as Chaplaincy matters are concerned there have been plenty to
reflect upon while sipping a long cool drink. For example the first
meeting of the Spiritual Care Development Group at which yours truly
was representing SACH. This is the ecumenical and inter faith umbrella
group envisaged by the Guidelines to advise the Health Department. There
was very wide representation of interested parties and the hope is that
through this group a broad based community wide support for spiritual
care can be established. This will hopefully have some influence over
decision makers in, for example, more practical matters such as on-call
arrangements or sessional payments for chaplaincy. Plenty to chew on
there!
Then there are matters such as Professional Registration of Chaplains.
Put simply this is about the regulation of chaplains and the service
we deliver. Registration addresses issues about who is eligible to be
appointed a chaplain and with what qualifications and to whom they are
responsible for their professional conduct. Alongside that comes Continuing
Professional Development, and a Code of Professional Conduct which are
necessary for any registered healthcare profession.
These are major changes, not so much in the way that we do our job,
but in the way that our job is perceived. If we do not take advantage
of the current interest in spiritual care and seek to develop and enhance
what we offer to patients, then we may find that others will do it instead
of us.
There are the inevitable things that we’d wish simply to forget during
our summer idyll. The vexed question of Data Protection and access to
patient information springs to mind here. At the present time it is
unclear where the line will fall and consequently how much information
we will be granted.
All in all there is plenty for members of SACH to think about. Don’t
forget that there is the perfect opportunity for you to talk about these
and other issues at the AGM next month. There is a lot to think about
and we need to hear your views. Looking forward to seeing you in Stirling!
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Integrating Spirituality into Healthcare Practices:
Remembering the "Forgotten Dimension"
A multidisciplinary conference on spirituality and healthcare, hosted
by the School of Divinity and Religious Studies, University of Aberdeen:
January 12-13 2004
Rationale of conference:
Spirituality has recently become a central dimension of the rhetoric
of healthcare within the United Kingdom. The conference seeks to explore
what it means to practice spiritual care in a multidisciplinary context.
It seeks to explore how spirituality (understood in its broadest sense
as including but not being defined by religion) can actually be incorporated
into the day to day tasks of caring within a multidisciplinary healthcare
setting in ways which are creative, holistic and healing. In its keynote
speakers the conference will bring together an internationally recognised
group of practitioners from a variety of disciplines medicine, nursing,
social science, chaplaincy, alternative medicine and practical theology
to enable conference participants to reflect on what spirituality means
for their area of professional practice. This conference will be of
relevance to all of the caring professions who seek to incorporate this
vital dimension into their caring practices and to management and administrators
who seek to understand and worth through the relevance of this dimension
of care for the development and maintenance of a holistic, person-centred
National Health Service. It will also be of relevance to religious leaders
and lay people who wish to work out what their role may be within a
healthcare context which is beginning to take seriously the importance
of the spiritual dimension in the process of health and healing.
Conference costs:
Delegates requiring overnight accommodation and breakfast: £250.00 (inc.
VAT)
Day Delegates: £220.00 (inc. VAT)
Student Delegates requiring overnight accommodation and breakfast £125.00
(inc. VAT)
Student Day Delegates: £110.00 (inc. VAT)
(these prices are for both days and include a conference meal on the
evening of the 12th. Delegates who do not want to take part in the meal
will have their fee reduced by £20)
Keynote Speakers
Dr David Hay
The spirituality of unchurched people
Dr Hay is an internationally recognised expert on contemporary spirituality
and has researched extensively within this area. He is a former director
of the Alister Hardy Research Centre in Oxford and is currently an honorary
senior lecturer in the School of Divinity, Religious Studies and Philosophy
at the University of Aberdeen.
Chaplain Mark Cobb
The Chaplain as a spiritual carer.
Revd Cobb is an ordained priest in the Anglican Church with experience
in parochial ministry, healthcare Chaplaincy and palliative care. His
research focus is the role of spirituality in health care. He is a Research
Associate of the Lincoln Theological Institute and was appointed as
Clinical Director of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in 2002.
Professor John Swinton
Spirituality and Mental Health
John Swinton is Professor in Practical Theology and Pastoral Care at
The University of Aberdeen. He has a background in mental health nursing
and mental health chaplaincy and has researched and published extensively
within the area of spirituality and health.
Wilfred McSherry
Spirituality in Nursing
Wilf McSherry is a Lecturer in Adult Nursing Studies, Department of
Health Studies, University of Hull. He has a particular interest in
spirituality and nursing and has written extensively within this area
both with regard to nursing practice and nursing education. His publications
include his significant text on spirituality: Making Sense of Spirituality
in Nursing Practice.
Professor David Aldridge
Spirituality and Medicine: Complementary perspectives.
David Aldridge is Professor of Qualitative Research in the Faculty
of Medicine at the University Witten-Herdecke, Germany. He has researched
and practiced extensively within the area of spirituality and health
and has particular expertise within the area of complementary medicine.
Dr Christiana Puchalski
Spirituality in Medicine—Can doctors be taught to be spiritual?
Dr Puchalski is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Medicine
and Health Care Sciences at The George Washington University School
of Medicine, Washington DC. She is the Founder and Director of
The George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health. (Gwish.org)
Dr Puchalski currently heads up the Templeton Foundation’s US initiative
to introduce spirituality to the medical school curriculum.
Steve Wright
Caring for the spirituality of healthcare professionals
Professor Wright is the Director of the Sacred Space Foundation. The
Foundation seeks to provide peaceful rest, retreat and recuperation
facilities for doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals. It
seeks to provide Sacred Space for those who have become exhausted, burned
out and stressed in their work. Professor Wright is an acknowledged
expert in therapeutic touch and his book Sacred Space - Right Relationship
in Spirituality and Healthcare is one of the few texts which seeks to
address the significance of the spirituality of pressurized healthcare
professionals.
Fr Stavros Kofinas
Chaplaincy in Europe.
Fr Stavros, a priest (protopresbyter) of the Orthodox Church, is a psychotherapist,
hospital chaplain supervisor in Athens and the representative of the
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople on the European Network of
Healthcare Chaplaincy of which he is Coordinator.
For further information please contact :
Aileen Barclay (Conference Secretary)
Faculty of Education, Aberdeen University, Hilton Drive, Aberdeen
Tel: 01224 274833
E-mail:ai.barclay@abdn.ac.uk
Fax: 01224 283945
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The
Annual General Meeting
of SACH
will be held at the
Education and Conference Centre
Stirling Royal Infirmary
on
Wednesday 8 October 2003
from 10 for 10.30 am until 3.30 pm
following AGM business there will be a Question-time style session:
YOUR opportunity to put questions to a panel of experts
If you have concerns about pay and conditions for part-time chaplains;
registration; supervision; the new Spiritual Care in the NHS Guidelines
or any other topic, then join us for an informative and stimulating
debate
A hot buffet lunch will be provided
£10 fee for non-members
Don’t forget to complete enclosed form and return to Monica Stewart
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Scottish Journal of Healthcare Chaplaincy
The last few years have seen a remarkable interest and
development in Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care in Scotland: NHS guidelines,
NHS HDL (2002)76, Clinical Standards for Specialist Palliative Care,
Standards for Hospice and Palliative Care Chaplaincy. In our most recent
issue of the Journal (Vol.6. No.1) issued in May 2003 we ran extensive
comment on the NHS guidelines, and in the coming issue we introduce
some of the other documents published recently.
The editorial board is looking to encourage contributions for Vol. 7.
(2004). In particular we would encourage papers commenting on experiences
of the preparation of plans and implementation of the NHS guidelines,
and also the experiences of the first round of ‘visits’ within specialist
palliative care by NHS Quality Improvement Scotland.
We would also welcome articles from chaplaincy or spiritual care research,
and from chaplains undertaking further academic/professional study.
Articles for inclusion in Volume 7 will be required by 31st January
2004. As always the editors will be pleased to advise on the content,
format and length of papers, and are willing to give constructive comment
on draft papers.
Editors
Georgina Nelson
David Mitchell
E-mail: journal@sach.org.uk
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An
Opportunity For Grace
I received a page from the outpatient information desk
at the South end of the paediatric hospital where I work as Interfaith
Chaplain in Salt Lake City, Utah. Some people there wanted to see me,
said the volunteer. “I’ll be there in 5 minutes,” I said.
When I reached the desk, I saw only an older couple. The woman who approached
me was dressed plainly and her face was wrinkled. Her companion was
a gentleman who smelled of cigarette smoke, and appeared to have left
his teeth at home, as his cheeks were sunken. She asked if I were the
chaplain. “Yes I am,” I replied. “May I help you?”
She produced a small white cardboard box a little larger than a stick
of butter. “This is a plastic nightlight in the shape of Jesus.” she
replied. “Our grandson, who is less than a year old has been in and
out of this place 2 or 3 times since he was born, and we just can’t
seem to get him on the right track. I want to give this to him, and
I wonder if you would be willing to bless it first.”
Although I had never offered a prayer of blessing for any inanimate
object before in my life, I could see how important this was to the
couple, so I immediately agreed. I invited them to come with me to the
chapel, which was at the other end of the building on the third floor.
“How am I going to do this?” I wondered to myself as we walked together.
I needed the time it took us to walk the distance, to develop a plan,
as the faith tradition from which I come is not known for rituals of
this type, so it was quite new to me.
We arrived in the chapel and took seats across from each other. I removed
the plastic Jesus, which, I imagined, glowed in the dark after the light
was turned off, and put it on the coffee table between us. I asked for
the name of their grandson, reminded myself of theirs, and offered a
prayer of blessing that covered the nightlight, the child, their family,
and those here in whose care the child rests. The prayer of blessing
ended with the traditional “amen.”
When our eyes met, she looked at me and put her hand on the knee of
her companion. “My husband’s terminal,” she said. I looked first at
him, then her. “He’s been very ill for a long time now. And we had to
get a divorce in January.”
“A divorce,” I said. “What happened?”
“Well, as I say, he’s been sick. And we were told that our combined
social security was 22 dollars over the limit to be eligible for medicaid.
We didn’t know what to do. But I saw that we had seventeen pills left
and couldn’t afford any more, so I knew that if we didn’t get the divorce,
then I’d lose him by becoming a widow.”
“So we got the divorce. Went right through. Just took a few days. And
we’re still together.”
“I feel pretty good right now,” said the man, who had said very little
to this point. “But I sure don’t like being divorced. I love my wife.
I love her so much.”
“We went to our church to see if we could have a ceremony that would
have us married in the eyes of God. They said, ‘No,’ they couldn’t do
that because it was not approved.”
A tear rolled down her cheek. “Sometimes, I get up in the middle of
the night and go into the kitchen, where I see him just sitting at the
table, crying softly. This is so hard.”
I looked at them and my response was both thoughtful and automatic.
“Would you like to have that ceremony right now?” I asked. “It wouldn’t
be a legal marriage, but that’s not what you want anyway, If I hear
you right. But I believe that it would be something that God would bless
and honor.”
“Could we?” she asked, with incredulity. “I don’t see why not,” came
my reply, again, automatically. “Oh yes,” she said, looking at him.
“Would you like to do that?” “Absolutely!” came the reply.
I went to my office and found a copy of a more or less generic wedding
ceremony, using mostly traditional language, and returned to the chapel.
They were holding hands and looking at each other.
As the ceremony proceeded, from Introduction to invocation to vows,
I felt a strange aura, a mysterious quality to what was going on, if
anything validating what was happening. As each said, “I do” they kissed
the other tenderly, and I was moved by their apparent love and hunger
for a relationship that was approved by God. The pronouncement and prayer
of blessing were followed by a benediction, and a warm embrace and another
kiss.
“You have no way to know what this means to us,” the woman said, after
a bit of silence. “Things are right again.”
I knew that I was on holy ground.
How many weddings have I officiated? 100? Probably more. Maybe closer
to 200 in 30 years of ministry. As moving and powerful and sacred as
some have been and felt, none has ever approached the depth and quality
of this event. Today, I walk among the privileged of this earth!
Michael G. Jackson
Director of Pastoral Care
Interfaith Chaplain,
Primary Children's Medical Center,
Salt Lake, City, Utah, USA
and a member of SACH
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Evaluation
of Spiritual Care Audit
- Fife Acute Hospitals : June 2003
Recently we carried out an audit to assess awareness and
recognition of Spiritual Care amongst staff in our hospitals. Audit
forms were made available to ward based staff within the Fife Acute
Hospitals.
We reported the findings at Audit and Clinical Effectiveness lunchtime
meetings across the Trust in August and plan to further share the findings
with staff groups on the wards.
The exercise has been a very positive experience for chaplaincy, providing
a platform, not only for the raising again of our service profile, but
also for the multidisciplinary discussion of Spiritual Care issues and
as a reflection for the response to the current Spiritual Care Guidelines
and Policy developments.
We listed nine objectives in all, here are three of them:
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To assess staff ‘viewpoint’ on spiritual care in the
hospital setting
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To find out when staff discuss chaplaincy services
with patients
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To see how important staff rate spiritual care with
regards to themselves and also to patients in their care.
In all 950 forms were made available to ward based staff
and 390 were returned completed. This represents a return rate of 41%.
Respondents were from a variety of disciplines, although as might be
expected the majority (57%) were from nursing. On the form we set a
variety of twelve questions. The responses both encourage us and provide
a basis for working with staff on spiritual care issues. 93% of respondents
knew that regardless of faith perspective the chaplaincy service is
available to any and to all within the hospitals. 76% of respondents
indicated that they knew the service was available out of hours and
84% said they knew how to contact a chaplain.
There is a fairly solid base of staff awareness of the chaplaincy service.
The figures above reflect positively the promotion of an available and
accessible service. The challenge, in the face of constant changes in
staffing, lies in sustaining a reasonable sense of presence, and for
the chaplains to be known personally to staff.
In the matter of addressing the issue of Spiritual Care with patients
266 respondents (68 %) indicated that they were comfortable in such
discussions, 103 (26%) would like to spend more time with patients regarding
spiritual care. 47 responses (12%) did not feel comfortable addressing
spiritual care. 20 respondents (5%) indicated that they did not think
spiritual care was important. However, 324 respondents (83%) disagreed
with them! Some respondents also expressed the opinion that it was not
their responsibility to do raise the matter of spiritual care.
On the question of how important Spiritual Care is to themselves 68%
place their response at 5 or above on a scale of importance (1= not
important at all, and 10 = very important). 7% said it was not important
at all.
On the question of how important Spiritual Care is to those within their
care 77% placed their response at 5 or above on the scale of importance.
1% said that it was not important at all for those within their care.
It is encouraging to note that the majority of respondents place an
emphasis of importance on Spiritual Care both within their own lives
and for those within their care.
10% of respondents indicated that they had called upon the chaplaincy
for their personal needs. Given the number of staff within the Trust
and the resource of two chaplains, this report of 1 in 10 reflects a
reasonable measure of chaplaincy involvement with formal Pastoral Support
of staff. It does not, of course, reflect the greater number who have
contact with the service on an informal ad hoc way, and the worth of
conversations shared between staff and the chaplains in the passing.
We made a summary of written comments received on the returned forms
with the headings – Training needs, Challenges and Praise - and in conclusion,
set action points for ourselves to address with others in the future.
These included looking to set up multidisciplinary focus groups to discuss
staff attitudes regarding spiritual care and the consideration of auditing
the patient’s perception/satisfaction with spiritual care.
We are happy to share this snippet of our audit report in Soundings.
If you have experience of a similar exercise in your area and have ideas
as to how we could take things forward then please be in touch!
Ian McDonald and Isabel Whyte, Chaplains.
Kirsty Goodman, Clinical Effectiveness Facilitator.
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Scratchings
from the Training and Development Officer
The Training and Development Unit is spending much time
with coming conferences and study days. Mental Health Chaplains, whole
time, recently appointed, and maternity, are the categories for the
near future and there is a significant conference, Health Department
funded, on 26th November at Polmont by Grangemouth which I hope will
be of interest to many. Included is the invitation letter which will
be going out to all sorts of people, with a booking form, at the same
time as this newsletter. If you are interested and don’t get the chance
to see a booking form, do let us know. For this large conference we
are receiving assistance from the Conventions Management Group so it’s
interesting to see how “the professionals” go about arranging a conference.
Educationally you may be interested to know that a small group with
representatives from the practical theology departments of the Scottish
Religious Studies/Divinity Faculties has met and will continue to look
towards a qualification in Chaplaincy. There is a good deal of interesting
and related work being done in Aberdeen, St Andrews, Edinburgh and Glasgow
already but it is hoped to produce a scheme of modules so that chaplains
or others interested might choose options and levels to which they might
wish to study. The cooperative planning is at an early stage but it
is an interesting prospect.
A third CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) basic half unit begins in
Edinburgh towards the end of September. This course will be supervised
jointly by Val Duff and Bob Devenny and I hope you have seen notice
about it.
Work on spiritual care policies continues with variations in each Health
Board area. The composition of the working groups and the different
ways they work have been fascinating to see and be part of. Andrew and
I have been doing some evaluating work on the drafts during the consultation
process and the final versions are just beginning to appear.
The Data protection and information issue for chaplains is not yet resolved
and we, and the Health Department, are awaiting a reply to a wording,
which we believe is within the law and least damaging to chaplaincy
practice. Watch this space – but don’t get over optimistic!
Rev Chris Levison
Healthcare Chaplaincy
Training and Development Unit
Queen's Park House
Victoria Infirmary
Langside Road
Glasgow G42 9TT
Telephone: 0141 201 5392
Fax: 0141 201 5614
Mobile: 07768 023385
E-mail:
chris.levison@chaplains.co.uk
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“A
Seamless Transition”
Inchyra Grange Hotel, 26th November 2003
The Health Department invites you to this significant conference on
the development of spiritual care within NHS Scotland. Two years ago
the present Health Minister launched the spiritual care guidelines at
a conference in Stirling. This conference included research around spirituality,
an overview of the changing face of Scottish society, as well as an
introduction to the guidelines, which had been produced by a working
party representing a broad range of views. A central theme was the realisation
that spiritual care is a responsibility of all NHS staff. Following
consultation, a Health Department Letter was issued to all Health Boards
asking them to write new Spiritual Care Policies that reflect the needs
of their local communities.
This conference offers an opportunity to chart progress, share good
practice and consider many of the issues involved in implementing Spiritual
Care Policies. We hope for representation from all stakeholder groups,
including clinical staff, management, chaplains, volunteers, patients
and others involved or interested in the process.
Key note speakers will include Miss Anne Jarvie, Chief Nursing Officer;
Rev Professor John Swinton from Aberdeen University; Dr David Reilly,
Lead Consultant at the Glasgow Homoeopathic Hospital; Mr Pete Ritchie,
Former Director of Scottish Human Services Trust. Parallel Workshops
will include topics such as multicultural competence, patient focus,
spiritual care research, creating staff confidence and the development
of policies within NHS Board areas.
We expect considerable interest in this one-day event and therefore
advise you to book early to be assured of a place. We look forward to
meeting you on what should prove to be a stimulating and interesting
day.
Chris Levison
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Staff Connections
The Spiritual Care Guidance (NHS HDL 76
2002) has been welcomed (warmly!) by all NHS organisations. This groundbreaking
directive recognises officially for the first time that as an integral
part of clinical care, a broad range of people deliver spiritual care.
It is therefore essential that staff training needs are identified and
met (clinical, non-clinical, chaplains, volunteers etc). We must remind
those who are responsible for the implementation of spiritual care policies
that spiritual care is rooted in practice. It is not a theory. There
will be no quick fix two-day training workshop that will provide a ‘tick’
in the appropriate box. As Professor Steve Wright argues ‘our capacity
to give spiritual care is directly proportional to our level of spiritual
awakening and the later is not achieved without tough personal work’.
Policies must emphasise the requirement for a ‘cultural shift’. Training
should be delivered as part of an ongoing process allowing staff time
to reflect on practice, self and that which beyond the self. Implementation
plans must face the challenge of linking the spiritual needs of staff
with those of patients. Chaplains will have a key role to play in ensuring
the right connections are made, supporting and facilitating the training
process.
Andrew Moore
Policy Development Officer
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Spirit of Healing
(Easter Conference)
Exploring the Inner Dimensions
10th – 17th April 2004
The Findhorn Foundation
For those interested in an inclusive and open spirituality
and particularly as it relates to healing you may be interested in attending
the above event. Further particulars can be obtained from The Findhorn
Foundation website at:
www.findhorn.org/events/conferences/healing/display.html
For further information please contact:
Enquiries: Tel: 01309 690311
or e-mail: conference@findhorn.org
Their website states:
“We warmly invite you to a timely and important conference dedicated
to the exploration and experience of spiritual healing. In the context
of the profound challenges and opportunities facing our global community
this Spirit of Healing gathering will focus on the holistic and spiritual
principles and methods that can bring about true and enduring healing
- for people and planet.
We have brought together an exceptional team of leading teachers all
of whom, in different ways, work on a daily basis with the energies
and dynamics of practical healing. These teachers will share their world
and their techniques with you in inspiring talks, workshops and forums.
Interwoven into this gathering there will also be music, meditation,
celebration, movement, dance, networking, clowning and ceremony”
Fergus McLachlan
Chaplain, Inverclyde Royal
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New
Appointments
Rev Ann Purdie is the new Hospital Chaplain at
The Southern General Hospital in Glasgow. Ann began work on 1 July (though
she had been a part-time chaplain since August 2002.) She is a minister
of the United Free Church and was the minister at the Candlish Wynd
Congregation in Glasgow's Govanhill - where she did much work with the
Asian community (and learned Urdu and Punjabi for the purpose.)
Rev Lynne MacMurchie has started as Mental Health Chaplain, working
and the Royal Edinburgh Hospital and in community mental health chaplaincy.
Lynne has moved from her present post of Church of Scotland minister
at Granton in Edinburgh to fill the post vacated by Lorna Murray who
is teaching in Banglaore in India.
Rev Muriel Knox (formerly Assistant Chaplain based in Grampian
University Hospitals) has been appointed Mental Health Chaplain based
at Royal Cornhill Hospital, Aberdeen. Rev Bill Campbell retired from
this post at the beginning of the year.
Rev David Mitchell (Chaplain at Marie Curie Centre, Hunters Hill
Glasgow and editor of the Journal) has been seconded to the education
department in Hunters Hill for 9 months as a lecturer in palliative
care.
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Woodland Burial (Green Funerals)
Burial or Cremation? That’s the first question we ask
families when someone dies, and we need to know because the certificates
are different. Most of us have made a choice and know what we’d prefer
but I suspect the choice is made by default. You choose burial because
that’s the family tradition or you have a fear of being burned alive
in a coffin. Or you choose cremation, probably because you don’t fancy
being buried and have a thing about worms. My recent experience of a
Woodland Burial might change all that.
My image of an ‘environmentally friendly’ funeral was of bare simplicity
summed up by a mental image of a bio degradable (cardboard) coffin.
It seems that image was shared by most of the bereaved family who struggled
with the deceased’s request for a woodland funeral. It wasn’t easy to
arrange either. There is no woodland burial ground in Glasgow (nor are
their any plans), neighbouring East Dunbartonshire has part of Langfaulds
Cemetery set aside, but you can only buy a layer if you are a resident
(council tax payer) in East Dunbartonshire. A visit to the Natural Death
Society website and a visa payment of £6.99 provided an e-mailed list
of all the woodland burial sites in the UK including Scotland. Largs
in North Ayrshire was the nearest, a new cemetery only open a few weeks.
When the day of the funeral came it was interesting to see people’s
reactions to the coffin and the cemetery. The coffin was Willow, a basket
weave, with rope handles woven into the sides and decorated with flowers.
Beautiful was the word people used to describe it. I too noticed its
beauty but standing right beside it I also noted you could see inside
and was grateful the deceased was wrapped in a sheet of sorts. It also
creaked when it was carried, like baskets do, and I uttered the minister’s
prayer: Please God don’t let the bottom fall out!
At the cemetery, which at the moment is so new it looks a bit like a
farmers field with its wire fenced border, I explained that though it
looks bare just now, all the area round the perimeter of the cemetery
is set aside for single woodland layers, and a tree will be planted
over each layer as it is used, so in years to come the cemetery will
take shape and be bordered with woodland. I didn’t mention that each
layer will also be electronically ‘chipped’ to mark the graves. The
mourners seemed to know that the reason for the tree planting was more
than aesthetic, it would aid decomposition and the body in turn would
provide nutrients for the tree.
Standing at the graveside in Largs at the foot of the hills Psalm 121
was a must for the mourners: I lift up my eyes to the hills and ask
where will my help come from? So too was Kahlil Gibran’s reflection
on death with its imagery of the natural world and the human spirit
rising to seek God unencumbered.
It was an anxious day for a few folk: the Funeral Director, the Cemetery,
and the Minister, it was our first woodland funeral. It went without
a hitch and to be honest bar the bit of explanation about the setting,
it was the same as an ‘ordinary’ burial. What was interesting though
was the reaction of the mourners when we spoke after the services. They
were thinking! Even the hardened sceptic had moved from their traditional
thoughts of burial or cremation by default. They were captured by the
setting, the tree planting, the beauty of the coffin, and I suspect
a few Wills will now be changed and a ‘positive’ choice of what they
wish to happen when they die will have been made.
As for me I now have a claim to fame: I conducted the first Woodland
Burial in North Ayrshire! I’m also one of those thinking about making
a ‘positive choice’ and changing my Will!
David Mitchell
Chaplain
Marie Curie Centre, Hunters Hill
Glasgow
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The
Washington Post asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter
it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and then supply a new
definition.
Here are some of this year's winners…..
1. Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts
until you realise it
was your money to start with.
2. Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high...
3. Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the
person who doesn't get it.
4. Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running
late.
5. Hipatitis: Terminal coolness.
6. Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease.
7. Decafalon (n.): The gruelling event of getting through the day
consuming only things that are good for you.
8. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after
you've accidentally walked through a spider web.
9. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito that gets into
your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
10. Caterpallor (n.): The colour you turn after finding only half
a grub in the fruit you've been eating.
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The next edition
of SACH Soundings will be published
in March 2004.
Send news, articles, pictures, stories and ideas to:
Rev
Fred Coutts
Chaplains’ Office
Aberdeen Royal Infirmary
Foresterhill
Aberdeen
AB25 2ZN
Tel: 01224
553316
Fax: 01224 554551
E.mail: Fred.Coutts@btinternet.com
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