Hospice Chaplain, Interrupted

Pondering death and the (im)possibility of a life-after-death is as old as the Epic of Gilgamesh. It is also part of the awkward encounters between hospice caregivers and the recipients of their care. Some of the unsettled beliefs and dark emotions, however, become glossed over as irrelevant to the clinical contexts. Moreover, to the extent chaplains are largely presumed to be Christian, offering solace and compassion from a particular and often proselytizing point of view, those coping wit