People interested in end-of-life education meet the third Thursday of each month at the Community United Methodist Church at 434 Lewis St.
Use the convenient parking lot with the side entrance into the kitchen and fellowship hall. The main doors into the church will remain locked.
Programs will begin at 1 p.m. with time for coffee, tea and treats, if people bring something to share.
It was decided that the official program should end around 2:30 p.m., but people can remain in the fellowship hall for socializing, discussions, support, etc. until 4 p.m.
We are a casual group, so feel free to come and go as needed. Attendance varies for each program. Feel welcome to come anytime and bring friends.
Our programs are free, but people attending can bring canned food for the church pantry or make a cash donation toward using the room.
I usually do not report on past programs, but on March 20 we were introduced to the very latest concepts in funerary practices, called natural funerals.
The presenter was Karis Meskimen, from the Denver area, where they are being used more and more. I was absolutely blown away by what she shared.
One new process Meskimen told us about is called terramation, or body composting. It was developed in Washington state. The other new process developed in Oregon is called water cremation.
I am not an expert, but I think that these new processes will someday, fairly soon, be taking over the funeral industry. They are absolutely amazing in that they have little to no negative impact on our environment and they feel like such a positive, clean way to deal with remains.
Once younger people find out about these two processes they will take over as the only acceptable funeral practices. It is just a matter of time.
Meskimen will be returning to Pagosa Springs to educate us again. Check out these new and mind-blowing procedures with your friends and family.
Future programming
On April 17, we will have a guest facilitator, Sam Conti, who is a counselor. She will help us figure out how to be most helpful and supportive of people in the grief process. We will also consider any other suggested topic. If someone wants to present something anonymously, write a note to give to the leader as soon as you arrive. This is a great opportunity with no unacceptable topic.
On May 15, we will be hearing from Dr. Pam Kircher. I hope to have copies of her book for people to purchase who would like to have extra study and discussion sessions in May, June and July to discuss near-death experiences. On May 15, we will set up how to handle extra sessions on this topic of great interest.
If driving conditions are unsafe, we will not meet and the program will be rescheduled.
