Guest commentary by Carlton Johnson Do we really understand what it means to live in bodies of earthen vessels? Even after decades of research, witness, I remain amazed at how some continue to assign value on the bodies of others – based on skin color, gender, nationality and other qualifiers. When this happens, the group doing the judging fails to appropriately grasp the notorious failure record of all of what the writer of 2 Corinthians 4:7 calls “these earthen vessels.” The Book of Common Prayer recognizes this at every funeral: “Earth to earth; ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” Neither is greater than the other. Each has the same origin. Each has the same destination. I am reminded of a few stories that helped me better understand what our earthen-ness means. The first story recalls a sewer issue that impacted a church where I was formerly executive pastor. A few months after my arrival and after a terrible storm, I went downstairs to the fellowship hall and found myself … [Read more...]

Guest commentary by Franziska Rokoske It seems so innocuous, the request to keep people and their families in our thoughts and prayers because they are "on hospice." We’ve all heard it, from well-meaning (and sometimes solemn-faced) pastors, relatives and friends. “She’s on hospice” is delivered with the best intentions. Unfortunately, upon hearing these words, many listeners interpret that the situation is dire and the person’s death is imminent. We believe we should anticipate the person's imminent death and that our attendance to the person and their family is immediately needed. The phrase has become an unfortunate euphemism for “she’s about to die,” or “you better hurry and go see her,” or “there won’t be time.” Sadly, that euphemism has unintended consequences; it contributes to mass public misperception about what hospice is and what hospice care means for patients and families who receive it. It wrongly equates hospice care with death when instead, hospice promotes … [Read more...]