#128- DGB Newsletter - September 2025

END-OF-LIFE, AFTERLIFE AND BEREAVEMENT

Are NDEs Finally Being Taken More Seriously?

"The modern intensive care unit will give you feedback from a body, including flat brain waves. When the brain waves are flat, basically nothing is happening in the brain. If the person comes back and says, I had a near-death experience. I was floating. I noticed that the nurse left my dentures in a drawer, but I don’t seem to have them. Can you go and find them? And sure enough, they’re in the drawer." 
READ MORE...

The Death Talk

"At 80 give your thoughts about whether you want to be force fed if you end up with dementia in an aged care home. At 85 the greatest gift you can give your child is a meaningful plan about what’s important in terms of care and interventions you would want in hospital... These conversations won’t jinx you, they won’t make you age faster – they will actually help your child age slower. Because the stress of having to push parents towards decisions and realities is psychologically bruising, and it ultimately often comes down to one son or daughter." READ MORE...

Editor's note: See my 2016 article "Is Death the New Sex?"

Faces After Suicide

Faces After Suicide is an art exhibition that confronts the silence and shame that often surround suicide. While all grief is deeply personal and difficult, suicide loss often carries an added burden of stigma. Survivors may face blame and judgment from others, which can intensify their isolation. By making this experience visible, artist Lindsey Doolittle creates space for connection, empathy, and public acknowledgment, inviting others to show up, listen, and help break the cultural habit of turning away. To participate:

* Write a one page letter to the one you lost to suicide

* Handwritten only, Front side only

* Letters can be written in any language 

* Letters must be accompanied by a signed submission



Click HERE to download the form to submit with your letter.

What Do You Want to be Buried With?

Grave goods aren’t just for the Ancient Egyptians. Putting significant objects and items in people’s coffins or graves when they die is hugely important for many people in contemporary Britain: almost all of us will need to make a decision about them at some point in our lives. Jennifer’s talk draws on her research into contemporary grave goods, and why we need and want them.

SACRED ACTIVISM

We’re Not Built to Grieve

Over Something New Every Hour

 by John Pavlovitz

"Normally, we grieve over a moment. When someone we love dies, they die one time and we spend the rest of our lives processing that singular event—but this is a daily subtraction, it is a perpetual death, a continual mourning. Every morning, there always seem to be more new things to lament the loss of. Many people now find themselves here, continually sitting vigil over dying things." READ MORE...

ICE Quotes Scripture to Recruit Thugs

"In a video posted to its X account July 28, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned “every criminal in America” that the U.S. Border Patrol’s special operations group was coming to hunt them down. The video, using an intimidating tone typical of DHS promotional videos on immigration enforcement, also quoted an unexpected religious reference — the Bible."

...“I think you see that across the administration, it is not an attempt to reconcile their policies with Christian teaching. It’s just sort of taking a bulldozer to Christian teaching and then sprinkling Bible verses on top. We have this really growing sense that the Trump administration is trying to promote Christianity and use Christianity as a defense for its authoritarian actions, and that flies in the face of our religious freedom tradition in the United States.”  READ MORE...

RELIGION REPORT

WORKSHOPS, CLASSES

AND PROFESSIONAL TRAINING

Our FREE Holiday Season Workshop!



Mindfulness, Non-Violent Communication

and MAGA 

Family Gathering for the Holidays?

Psychologists and Spiritual Teachers Share Strategies

for Staying Calm and Promoting Peace 

THIS IS A FREE WORKSHOP

(you'll be invited to make an optional donation with your registration)

We realize it's only September, but it's never soon to start preparing to deal with difficult family dynamics during the holiday season, especially during these fraught political times.

If the folks around your holiday table this year will be on opposite ends of the political spectrum, sparks may start to fly, and if they do, you'll need powerful tools to keep conflagrations from becoming wildfires.

Drawing on teachings from clinical sociology, conflict resolution and diverse spiritual practices, this mini workshop can help you navigate contentious conversations.

Online - Thursday Nov. 20, 2025

9 am - 2 pm PACIFIC time

DETAILS AND REGISTRATION HERE

There is no charge to attend this event.

Four CE credit hours available for a fee.

Professional Training in Prolonged Grief Disorder
Online Oct 16 - 17

Learn how to implement a short-term, evidence-based treatment using active empathic listening, brief personalized interventions, companionship alliance, and a series of targeted procedures to help clients understand and accept grief and optimize their ability to manage emotional pain, think about the future, strengthen relationships with loved ones and others in their community, tell the story of the death, live with reminders of the loss, and connect with memories of the deceased.

 REGISTER HERE

Seeking Hospice Bereavement Volunteers

in Portland, Oregon

A Portland/Vancouver-area hospice will be training a limited number of volunteers to offer grief support to local families. This would entail a training/onboarding process and then 2-4 hours a week of in-person visits to clients in Portland and/or Vancouver and Longview WA.

SKILLS NEEDED: 

. Some education in grief theory and counseling preferred

. Engaging personality

. Computer skills  

. Organization/time management skills

Email inquiries with a brief overview of your experience and interests to

terri@danieldirect.net

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Be part of the ongoing conversation in our

Death, Grief and Belief Facebook Group

Are you a professional chaplain who does not identify with the conventional religious chaplaincy model? Visit our

Chaplains Outside the Box Facebook Group

Contact us:

 office@deathgriefandbelief.com

971-236-1541

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