Hospice: Whither A Light in the Darkening Night

Hospice illuminates human suffering,
Its touch alleviates pain, isolation, the fear of what's next.

Hospice ears welcome the call of sorrow, joy, separation, love,
Its faith encourages presence, reconciliation, unity.

Hospice lived offers dignity:

We are with you.
You are loved beyond measure.
When it's time to go home, go.
We'll care for those still here.

Yet, darkness descends on this light.
Chains constrain loving touch.
Business models intrude, disturbing a precarious balance

Lawyers, financiers, and salespeople thrust jagged frameworks.
Business paragons, never satisfied with being, instill loss and separation
Goading staff to achieve dehumanizing measures or expect termination.

Might leadership darkness shutter the hospice light?
This ultimate power they do not have.

The light of hospice is inside people.
It's brand-less, report-less, measure-less.
It seeks no glory, no attention.
Self-inflation, absorption, aggrandizement is absent

Hospice requires courage.
Courage to set aside absurd priorities and inane orders.

We are with you.

Courage to protest the obscene material gain of corporate chiefs.
Courage to ignore the countless ways the organization shouts "You are replaceable."

You are loved beyond measure.

Courage to support coworkers who cling to the hospice spirit like the breath of life it is.

When it's time to go home, go.

Courage to speak truth and honesty about the encroaching darkness, which ultimately desires to offer hospice in name only.

We'll care for those still here

Until we're gone.

---By StrangeTony January 2013