Facing Death with Life

Beautiful orange sunset over a deep blue ocean. — Tapestry is Sunsetting

The UUA is no longer updating Tapestry of Faith programs.

By Kate R. Walker, Lee Ann Wester

The Program

If you would indeed behold the spirit
of death, open your heart wide
unto the body of life.
For life and death are one, even as the
river and sea are one.—Kahlil Gibran

This program facilitates a process of personal reflection, learning, and spiritual growth focused on the topic of death and dying. It brings death, dying, and grief into the light of our daily lives and out of the dark, macabre recesses to which we often relegate it. The program is not a grief support group, nor is it an intellectual study of death. It includes sociological information and reflection, theological reflection, personal and shared narrative, creative expression, journaling, and practical learning and preparation. It helps participants move from viewing death as an abstract concept to developing a personal recognition of its meaning in their life, with the goal that all who participate in the program find a closer and more comfortable relationship with their own inevitable death. This program invites participants to experience death and dying as a healthy part of life, including the preparation, the moment of death, the grieving, and the living on.

Facing Death with Life includes eight two-hour workshops, plus material for participants to read or view in preparation for each workshop. In addition, one or more field trips to a funeral home, cemetery, or crematorium are recommended between Workshops 7 and 8. The eight workshops build upon each other in both content and development of community. The program culminates with participants sharing their creative projects during the last workshop.

Preface
From Facing Death with Life

As this program came to life over several years, death was a part of our own lives. Lee Ann’s mother died in December 2004 from cancer. Kate’s mother died in May 2006 after a 30-year struggle with multiple sclerosis. One day before her mother’s death, Kate’s uncle died a lonely, isolated…
Introduction
From Facing Death with Life

Goals This program will: Build community among participants and increase their comfort in talking about death and dying Invite participants to find their own personal meaning and theology of death Offer information about cultural and religious perspectives on death Invite participants to reflect …
Program Structure
From Facing Death with Life

At the end of each workshop, participants will be given Internet links to material to read or view in advance of the next workshop. Workshops often include secular materials about the topic in question and offer many resources for further reflection and study.
Arrangements to Make in Advance
From Facing Death with Life

Many of the workshops include video clips. In many situations, the easiest way to share those clips is to stream them from the recommended website. However, if this is not possible in your setting, the recommended videos are generally available in public libraries and for purchase….
Leader Resource 1: Kate Walker's Reflection on Death
From Facing Death with Life

I was eight years old when my maternal grandfather died. He was a thousand miles away in Chicago, and I barely knew him. I learned about his death when I discovered my mother packing a suitcase. She told me she was going to Chicago because grandfather was dying, or already dead. I’m still not…
Leader Resource 2: Lee Ann Wester's Reflection on Death
From Facing Death with Life

A few months after my mother’s death, my minister, Kate Walker, approached me and asked if I would be interested in helping her put together a curriculum on death and dying. The timing was serendipitous, and I enthusiastically joined her in this endeavor….
Workshop 1: Talking about Death
From Facing Death with Life
Workshop 2: Finding Our Personal Views of Death
From Facing Death with Life
Workshop 3: Beliefs and Practices – What Happens When We Die?
From Facing Death with Life
Workshop 4: Bereavement
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Workshop 5: Children and Death
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Workshop 6: Suicide and The Right To Die
From Facing Death with Life
Workshop 7: Preparation for Death
From Facing Death with Life
Workshop 8: Sharing New Insights
From Facing Death with Life