“We want LifeWe want Truth
We want Love.
These are our basic needs.”
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“ Ministry is more than a “pat on the back and prayer”.
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Reflection: What is our life all about anyway?
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Youth is spent wondering about how life is to be lived.
Many never ask what is the meaning of life?
Some may question LIFE’S purpose, meaning, and value?
How do we face our death- how do we face the end to our personal lives?
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Many never ask what is the meaning of life?
Some may question LIFE’S purpose, meaning, and value?
How do we face our death- how do we face the end to our personal lives?
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Facing death is the ancient question.
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We are going to die- what does this mean?
How do we accept our personal destruction?
Does our acceptance of death teach us about whom we really are?
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Death is the great tragedy and its prelude we find ourselves in crisis.
.We are going to die- what does this mean?
How do we accept our personal destruction?
Does our acceptance of death teach us about whom we really are?
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Death is the great tragedy and its prelude we find ourselves in crisis.
Many rationalize death, glorify dying and give a special meaning to suffering.
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In death there is a profound loss of skill, knowledge, personalities, love, relationships,
and all kinds of things that are good.
In death there is a profound loss of skill, knowledge, personalities, love, relationships,
and all kinds of things that are good.
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Not having an alternative to death we must
Not having an alternative to death we must
rationalize how meaningful life is in order for life to end.
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Some approach life with a kind of resistance to death:
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Some approach life with a kind of resistance to death:
food, exercise, mediation, miracles, rituals anything to slow or stop the aging process.
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Others will try to escape through: speed, flight, running, or suicide.
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Others will try to escape through: speed, flight, running, or suicide.
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Some will take advantage of death teaching that
“ We get what we deserve“.
Some will take advantage of death teaching that
“ We get what we deserve“.
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There are those, who predictably will announce
that we are all sinners and are responsible for this condition of death.There are those, who predictably will announce
We are guilty and must face our personal judgment and redemption.
We are taught to believe that a new life is beyond this life
and embracethis promised Paradise that is free of all death.
These people teach that we must focus on the afterlife and forget about this life.
.These people teach that we must focus on the afterlife and forget about this life.
A Chaplain's Response
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The Chaplain sorts through the "contadictions" within the circumstances of crisis:
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“Yes, we must, in the end, cope and endure with our death.
The Chaplain's work begins in the midst of the individual’s personal needs
and continues to walk “shoulder to shoulder”
with that person standing in front of us who has been sent into our lives:
The Chaplain enters into ... and ... through the emerging crisis.”
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We want Life … We want Truth … We want Love.
These are our basic needs.
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Our destiny remains to create and grow beyond our selves:
These are our basic needs.
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Our destiny remains to create and grow beyond our selves:
Our plan is always to live!
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We must honor the reality that we are to live our lives forward
but understand our lives by looking backwards.
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In the end, the goal of human life is to
In the end, the goal of human life is to
continue to learn and expand knowledge.
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We might ask:
What do we do with this time that we have left to us?
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We are called to go beyond our currently "perceived" limitations:
We are called to go beyond our currently "perceived" limitations:
Each of us are to be encouraged to lift ourselves to the heavens,
to speed through space, to go beyond our self imposed horizons.
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As a Catholic Chaplin I am often asked:
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As a Catholic Chaplin I am often asked:
“What is your understanding of life?
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Perceiving what this life and this world should be like for you?
What do you want to see happen in your lifetime?
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My answer to this question:
Perceiving what this life and this world should be like for you?
What do you want to see happen in your lifetime?
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My answer to this question:
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We want to see not just radical life extension but life expansion.
The full development of all the human capabilities.
We want to see not just radical life extension but life expansion.
The full development of all the human capabilities.
We have been created and carry within my being as described in
Ephesians 1:14-24.
Our grand purpose, our primary initiative as a living being is
Our grand purpose, our primary initiative as a living being is
the expansion of knowledge, art, music, and personal relationships.
All this is robbed by our death.
All this is robbed by our death.
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We seek “Personal Transformation“ that searches the infinite,
We seek “Personal Transformation“ that searches the infinite,
that labors to expand and discover infinite knowledge.
This, for me, is each individual’s quest:
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“ Go to God”.
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This personal quest is profound:
This personal quest is profound:
it is practical, it is spiritual, and it is divine.
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We are designed to grow and expand,
We are designed to grow and expand,
to “spiral out“, and spread love, art, music, and to transform our lives.
We are created for:
Love, Work, and Knowledge
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As we grow in Knowledge, bathed in a Love that is immeasurable throughout life
we must also face the"regrets" we hear at the sick bed.
Some say: that a life has not really been lived unless there are Great Regrets!
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Our Greatest Regret?
What has been revealed to me as chaplain;
"Regret is the memories of the love we have held back.
This is the only real pain and suffering we carry within ourselves."
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And adding:
" The time we waste worrying about being loved
even though we know that we have been loved
as if we are the only person in the whole world loved by God.
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Peace and Only Good Things
Peace and Only Good Things
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robert r. lackney, chaplain
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