An active Sedona Unitarian Universalist Fellowship congregant recently died after a short illness, stunning those who knew him.

Although we know death comes for us all, we also know that we each have a unique life and offer something to this world that will never exist again.

Before death, we are available to travel the road with the dying and their loved ones, providing home or hospital visits, cards and letters, transportation, meals, discussion about end-of-life arrangements, and conversations about their thoughts and feelings related to this profound transition.

Ours is a community of companionship. We try to be there for each other in ways that people want. We sit, talk, hug, and sometimes cry with each other–although mostly we listen.

We respect individuals’ ability to make informed end-of-life decisions.

UU congregations try to provide the kind of worship, community connections, and friendships that open the heart and mind and keep the dying and the bereaved connected to life.

Our memorial services honor the ethnic, cultural, and spiritual traditions of the deceased and their loved ones. We affirm diverse identities, families, and loving relationships.

We mourn what is lost when any of us dies, and we celebrate the contributions that person made. We do not insist on a single set of beliefs about what comes after our body’s death, nor do we expect that survivors express their grief in any one way. Some want solitude and others prefer a house full of friends.

We honor the religious past of some families, like sitting Shiva, having a lively wake, celebrating Home Going, delivering food to the grieving family, and, for some, washing the body of a loved one in preparation for a burial.

We deal holistically with death, but don’t dwell on it. We try to live fully while we can, build a legacy of love and compassion, and pass on our wisdom to those who live after us.

March 1, 2024