As the rain fell, there was a simple and quiet sense of peace enveloping the moment.

We sat around the kitchen table, the place where so many meals were shared, tears and laughter echoed off the green walls.

The hospice chaplain played, her gentle fingers moved over a guitar that had stood witness to more dying than most people could imagine in a lifetime.

The patient, with eyes that could barely see because tumors were stealing her sight, listened intently.

Slowly, her mouth began to sing the words to an old and timeless hymn. Tears sprang to her eyes as she remembered how she used to sing, her voice strong and steady.

Now, it cracked, due to age and cancer, but the words and the meaning stood strong.

I sat in witness, humbled and forever changed.

Through the window pane, I saw the rain fall, trickling down the glass. Beyond was a cemetery hill, dotted with gravestones. The resting place of so many who finished their race.

A devoted son and his wife, caregivers to this loving soul, also sat around the table as the music carried us all into an acceptance, a reverence, and a glimpse of grace.

They say music reaches beyond the here and now.

Another patient lay, nestled in pillows, small and almost lifeless with likely only hours left to breathe. Upon our arrival, rousing was slow, but as the chaplain played, her soul began to stir from beyond human understanding. Soon her mouth was moving the words to the old and true hymn. No sound could be heard, but somewhere in the depths of her soul, her heart sang.

If only we could be in the mind of that soul, see and feel what she was experiencing in these last moments of life.

Do you live as though your time is limited?

Do you spend more days beating yourself up for what you didn’t do, lost in the mire of negative thoughts and how you are “not good enough?”

Do you see the reverence and the love that is found in the rain drops, in the smiles of those around you, in the gift of your life?

How about your words and your interactions?

Are they sacred or are they rushed and self-centered?

The dying have much to teach us.

Are we ready to learn? Are we here to listen?

Here is the truth: The negative thoughts that run through your mind do not have to define you anymore.

It's time to realize that those negative thoughts are just thoughts and do not have to dictate your actions.

Becoming lost in these thoughts is stealing your very life away.

Take a moment.

Listen.

Kindly tell the part of you that is saying such negative things that you must move forward now and that you heard all it has to say.

Tell this part what is true.

That you are love and light and doing your best.

There is no time to lose.

It's time to run your race and do the most good through your smile, your words, and your actions.

You matter.

Your life matters.

You were not born by accident.

You have a purpose.

Sometimes it's hard to see where to go and what to do.

Do your best with where you are and remember that our best changes from day to day.

Move from a place of love and of wanting to serve.

We have been given a great gift.

This one precious and wild life.

It doesn’t always seem that way, as challenge and darkness can feel overwhelming.

Make no mistake, life is fragile and short.

Find the tiny pockets of peace that exist in the small... in the raindrops... in the sacred moments.

With love,

Rachel