This episode has been a long time in the making. We knew that to cover our varied perspectives on grief, loss, and end-of-life, a discussion on faith traditions would be an important part. The world around us infers that talking about death is not the same as talking about the joy of birth or the happiest of life's milestones. Certainly this unspoken “sweeping under the rug” of what is actually happening to all people and all families can feel so isolating. We wanted to hear some messages of love and hope from those at the front lines of faith and spirituality, whatever your faith or spirituality may be. We recognize that all of us approach life and death in general from the perspective of our faith traditions, our family cultures, and the traditions and culture we choose as adults. All this shapes how we approach our end-of-life planning.
Senior Hosts and Producers, Lisa Laudico and Natalia Green, along with Hosts Shonte Drakeford, Ashley Fernandez, Ellen Landsberger, and Lynda Weatherby interviewed 10 faith leaders. We hear from Jaclyn Roessel, Navajo Nation culture leader; Minister Barbara Bigelow and Elder Chester N. Bigelow of the New Samaritan Baptist Church; Reverend Kendy Easley, of Bethany Community Church; Rabbi Mychal Springer, Chaplain & Manager of Clinical Pastoral Education at NY-Presbyterian Hospital; M.R. Ravi Vaidyanaat Sivachariar, Spiritual Leader of The Hindu Temple Society of North America; Brother Marcus Martin, Leader, Church of Jesus Christs of Latter-Day Saints; Chaplain Rhonda Alderman and Tupten Tendhar, Professor of Buddhism, Non-violence & Peace Studies.
Our last interview is with Dr. Kamal Abu-Shamsieh, director of the inter-religious chaplaincy program at the graduate theological union in Berkeley, CA. He sums up how we feel perfectly:
“We need to look at death from a more human way. And when I say we, I don't mean just Muslims. When I say we, I say before we were Muslims, before we were Catholics, before we were Jews, before we were Hindus in those, before we were secular humanists, we were humans."
Thanks for listening.
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