Addressing End-of-Life Issues

An Important Part of Ethical Living

As members of an Ethical Society, one of our commitments is to help and support each other through the passages of our lives. To do this well, we need to understand a member’s individual values and wishes. For example, when a member of our community dies, we want to honor their wishes, to celebrate and affirm the best in them, and to support their family and friends. We also want to support the members of our community and their loved ones in bringing dignity, serenity, and enriched meaning to the closing days of their lives. This can be difficult to achieve if important questions have not been addressed in advance.

Thinking and talking about end-of-life issues ahead of time can help us proceed with more confidence and care. Doing so can also help us make healing connections before the advent of crisis, minimizing guilt and tempering our grief with the knowledge that we have loved well. It can also help us sort out our own priorities and live our own lives more fully in the present.  At the end of life, we each need an opportunity to say: “Good bye.” “I love you.” “Thank you.” “I forgive you.” “Please forgive me.”

We wish each of you many more years of joyful, loving, productive, and healthy living. We hope you will find your future years enriched because you addressed some of the tough questions raised by honest exploration of end-of-life issues. Downloading and completing the form we have provided below will also help those who care about you, by providing the information they will need when faced with important questions about your care. You may also choose to provide relevant parts of this material to the WES office, wes@ethicalsociety.org. to help her and the Pastoral Care Associates more effectively serve you and your loved ones.

Form to view or download Word file
Click here for  Documenting Your End-of-Life Planning – 2018

Examples

Click here to view a Maryland Advance Directive.
[See http://www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov/Pages/HealthPolicy/AdvanceDirectives.aspx]

Click here to view a Maryland version of the POLST form.
[See http://www.marylandmolst.org.]