Crossing Rivers

This book is a record of the experience of a spiritual caregiver at a hospice in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the form of a daily journal over the course of one year. The experiences and conversations contained herein are alternately harrowing, hilarious, heart-rending, and comforting. The reader encounters a great diversity of responses to life and death, bereavement, celebration and ugliness, as the companionable author describes his inner experience at the hospice. As more and more baby boomers face their own aging, and the decline and death of their parents, this book is a timely look at the state of the art of hospice in America. It also introduces the topic of Integral theory, spirituality, and practice, in a manner certain to fascinate newcomers to this evolutionary new concept.

This book is a record of the experience of a spiritual caregiver at a hospice in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the form of a daily journal over the course of one year. The experiences and conversations contained herein are alternately harrowing, hilarious, heart-rending, and comforting. The reader encounters a great diversity of responses to life and death, bereavement, celebration and ugliness, as the companionable author describes his inner experience at the hospice. As more and more baby boomers face their own aging, and the decline and death of their parents, this book is a timely look at the state of the art of hospice in America. The author describes his meditation practice and "shadow work" in response to the daily onslaught of death and grief which he works with. It also introduces the topic of Integral theory, spirituality, and practice, in a manner certain to fascinate newcomers to this evolutionary new concept.

John Hughes has been an earnest spiritual practitioner for 40 years. His life journey has taken him to India to work with Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity, to a maximum security prison where he served as volunteer chaplain, through various guises in involvement with the Episcopal Church, which included serving two parishes as their priest, through hospital chaplaincy, and through single parenthood of two young girls for ten years. He currently serves as chaplain in a hospice. A married man, father and grandfather, he is immersed in a theory and practice called Integral Spirituality, which seeks to integrate insights from several dozen disciplines of inquiry into truth, truthfulness, functional fit and justice. His passions include environmentalism, non-violence, music, poetry, family and Wisconsin sports teams.