Workshop 5: Making Friends with Mortality

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

The UUA is no longer updating Tapestry of Faith programs.

Part of Hindsight, Humor, and Hope: Who, Me, an Elder?

In This Section

Introduction
From Hindsight, Humor, and Hope

Today’s consumer-driven society wants adults to forget that aging is a natural process that can be navigated gracefully without plastic surgery and hair dye—and overmedication. When individuals realize they can do nothing to keep from growing old, except of course to die young, they may develop…
Workshop-at-a-Glance
From Hindsight, Humor, and Hope

Activity Minutes Lunch 20 Opening 5 Activity 1: Stretching 10 Activity 2: Sharing Journal Reflections 25 Activity 3: Beauty and a Mandala 20 Activity 4: Five Wishes 25 For Next Time 5 Closing 10…
Materials
From Hindsight, Humor, and Hope

Coffee, tea, and water service items Tissues (for participant use) Newsprint, markers, and tape Chalice, candle, and lighter, or LED battery-operated candle Cloth and decorations for worship table: flowers, leaves, plant, small sculpture, or other decorative items Chime or bell for signaling time…
Preparation
From Hindsight, Humor, and Hope

Arrange for coffee, tea, and water at the workshop. Arrange for furniture setup: For large group: Place tables in a horseshoe arrangement (leaders at the head table, chairs around outside of tables). For smaller group: Place one or two table tables in a rectangle (leaders sit at a middle side and…
Lunch
From Hindsight, Humor, and Hope

Activity time: 20 minutes Welcome participants as they arrive. Invite them to wear their name tags and to place their special objects on the cloth around the chalice. Encourage them to chat over lunch. As lunchtime draws to a close, share the poem “On Aging” from AND STILL I RISE by Maya…
Opening
From Hindsight, Humor, and Hope

Activity time: 5 minutes Light the chalice and offer these words adapted from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: In a house which becomes a home, one hands down and another takes up the heritage of mind and heart, laughter and tears, musings and deeds. Love like a carefully loaded ship, crosses the gulf…
Activity 1: Stretching
From Hindsight, Humor, and Hope

Activity time: 10 minutes Lead the group in these exercises, adapted from the book Five Minute Massage by Robert Thé, demonstrating as you lead. Begin with a new exercise for the arms and then add one from Workshop 4. Remind participants to do them only if they are physically able to do so:…
Activity 2: Sharing Journal Reflections
From Hindsight, Humor, and Hope

Activity time: 25 minutes Invite participants to turn to their journal reflections, which they completed before the workshop, and respond to the question, “What would I like my obituary to say about me?” Ask them to turn to another person and to share to the degree they are comfortable. Allow…
Activity 3: Beauty and a Mandala
From Hindsight, Humor, and Hope

Activity time: 20 minutes Introduce the activity with these or similar words: Buckminster Fuller, the inventor of the geodesic dome and other imaginative designs, was called the last Transcendentalist philosopher of the twentieth century because he saw human beings as a part of life and nature an…
Activity 4: Five Wishes
From Hindsight, Humor, and Hope

Activity time: 25 minutes Introduce this activity, saying: While it can be difficult at any time to deal with end-of-life issues because they concern our own mortality and the unknown, it is easier to make known our end-of-life health-care decisions while we are in good health….
For Next Time
From Hindsight, Humor, and Hope

Activity time: 5 minutes Tell participants that you will have a celebration at the final workshop and that lunchtime will be a little longer. Explain your plans (for example, a potluck lunch or a lunch prepared by others) and what participants need to bring. Distribute Handout 1, Looking Ahead to…
Closing
From Hindsight, Humor, and Hope

Activity time: 10 minutes Post the closing words so all can see them. Shuffle and set out Blessing Cards, text side down, and invite each participant to take one. Then take a card and read your blessing aloud. Invite participants in turn to share their blessings aloud. Allow a pause between each…
Handout 1: Looking Ahead to Workshop 6
From Hindsight, Humor, and Hope

On Aging When you see me sitting quietly, like a sack upon a shelf, Don’t think I need your chattering. I’m listening to myself. Hold! Stop! Don’t pity me! Hold! Stop your sympathy! Understanding if you got it, otherwise I’ll do without it! When my bones are stiff and aching and my feet…

Download all of Hindsight, Humor an Hope (Word) (PDF) to edit or print.

The UUA is no longer updating Tapestry of Faith programs.

Workshop 5: Making Friends with Mortality

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