Anonymous,
Retirement has been a relief. I no longer experience the tension of fulfilling my hospice calling within a for-profit enterprise. Before our fledgling hospice company went public this tension seemed manageable. Executives showed support by showing up and their words and actions had a heartfelt component. That changed when our company went public and Wall Street's quarterly pressures impacted leadership. Pressure came to meet or beat the numbers.
When the company disappointed Wall Street expectations executives sold out to a new group, each more charlatan than the last. Executives rewarded themselves at greater levels with each buyout. That's been the arc in the material, earthly hemisphere of corporate business. That's not everything.
There's the realm of spirit. Christ operated within persecution of the Romans, Pontius Pilate and local religious leaders. Hospice workers are present day saints trying to navigate the hostile aspects of their job in order to serve, be with, minister, love, support, and care for the dying.
Saints did not go with the flow. They did not pray for census or for stock prices to rise. They had a unique calling which required persevering, even challenging others in its achievement.
With each buyout our voice diminished. With each name change hospice leaders became more intolerant of anyone standing up on principle. Dialogue did not occur in order to find a better way forward. The principled simply got branded as negative, not a team player. Official leaders prioritized image and surface contact over depth and real relationship.
Executives cared for themselves. Their pay increased with each buyout. Ours did not. Their visits became more infrequent and their words increasingly insincere. They tried to bear hug the best of us, hoping it would somehow rub off on them. But executives could not hide their desire to shower away real contact with Christ's least of these. Our management was limited, so we looked to one another for leadership, inspiration, support and relationship. When co-workers sought favor with ignorant and divisive managers this too became difficult to maintain.
Support one another. Resist the call from above to label and divide. That's my encouragement to you and other hospice workers this Labor Day.
You are a spiritual person navigating a material world. Do so with presence, awareness, courage and faith. It's your calling. Live it!
Strange Tony
