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What the Dying Teach Us: Lessons on Living

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This book should be on the bookshelf in every Hospice office, every Chaplain's office and in every minister's library regardless of denomination. I heartily recommend it for anyone who works with Hospice, with hospital patients, with the elderly, or with bereaved persons.

Reverend Sam Oliver's book is not a book by a preacher for preachers. It is a book written by an exceptional man who humbly shares his walk with those who are dying, as well as the lessons of life that he has gleaned from his relationships with those persons.

I have read many books on Hospice care, death & dying, and bereavement in the past two years. Many of them are excellent books from which I've learned much. However, I cannot remember one that caused so many light bulbs to explode within my soul. From page to page I found myself saying, "Aha!" as the light bulbs of cognition and recognition flashed.

In a 12-month period of time, our only son died of a cerebral hemorrhage, my father died of cancer and my mother-in-law died of cancer. Our son's death was two years ago, my mother-in-law's death just a year ago.

In that 12-month period of time, I wish that the ministers who surrounded us had Sam Oliver's wisdom and warmth. While our son was in the ER, the hospital chaplain came into the waiting room, introduced himself and then said, "Let's hold hands and have a prayer." He was going by the book..by rote. He didn't know what else to do.

In Sam Oliver's book, one learns that there is nothing "routine" about death, dying, and bereavement. It is his ability to walk with the dying and listen to who they are, where they are, what they need, that sets Sam apart from many other chaplains.

As a chapter leader for The Compassionate Friends (support group for bereaved parents, siblings & grandparents), I have heard many of our bereaved parents say, "We always thought our pastor was great, until our son/daughter died. He doesn't have a clue." Why doesn't he have a clue? Because unlike Sam Oliver, he hasn't taken the time to listen to what people are saying when they are scared, when they are angry, when they are in pain.

Instead of buying your pastor/minister/chaplain a tin of cookies for the holiday season, purchase this book for him/her. It will not only prepare him/her for an active role in a community of need, but it will also help him/her to better understand how much his or her own life can be enhanced via the lessons of life that are taught by the masters of this life: those who die well.

At the time I discovered Sam Olivers Book, I was enrolled in a chaplaincy program at a local hospital. I believed the content would be most helpful in my own ministry. Little did I realize that this book would be my own source of comfort, strength and guidance only a few short months later when I was thrown into an unwanted, unexpected divorce.

I have discovered that the pain of a divorce can be almost as devastating as the death of a loved one. This book served as a guide through that darkness. The comfort and spiritual direction I derived has contributed greatly in my healing process and the continuation of my ministry.

Thank you Sam Oliver for your contribution to my life.

Sam knows how to write a great book. Not just about what it sounds like, death and dying. He has lots of great stories and personal experiences that lift you up and definitely get you thinking in a good way! Get it, you won't be disappointed! And if you do know someone who has family that are approaching the hospice stage, buy them a copy or share your own.
I plan to read it again slower this time, a definite keeper!!!

From an experienced hospice minister comes a revelation of the heart of the Hospice mission. This book conveys the inner experience of hospice care, death and dying and questions about the meaning of life, death and the Spirit. Read along and get back in touch with what is really going on during the most intimate moments of the dying process as well as life itself.

What the Dying Teach Us: Lessons on Living is about the healing moments of grace that come when the soul makes the transition between life and death. Reverend Samuel Lee Oliver is a gifted writer whose love and passion for his work will move your spirit. Embrace the richness of the author's personal experiences with the dying and their families. Listen with your heart and experience the hope and peace the author shares. I especially recommend this book to anyone associated with Hospice. As a Hospice volunteer, I found wonderful new insight for enhancing my listening skills. This book is about coming together and sharing our gifts. What the Dying Teach Us: Lessons on Living is about living. It helped me explore my faith journey and has changed my life. Let it touch yours!

i am interested in insight into life and the experience of dying. partly because i have a heart condition and had open-heart surgery two years ago. i was intrigued by the title of this book and wanted to learn from the experiences of others in the hospice experience. i think i will just volunteer instead. i don't mean to offend anyone with this review, but i wish the Reverend had gone into more detail of the interactions with those in hospice. for me the book offers too much of himself and not enough of their experiences beyond what seem to be brief visits that he has with them. i would be more interested i think in the stories of full-time hospice caregivers. for me i had a problem with the spiritual messages that the Reverend saw in everything. i find those experiences highly subjective and would have preferred merely human stories to the inferences of the eternal and spiritual that the Reverend saw in everything. i guess i should have read the reviews more clearly and exercised more caution before picking this up to read. dying isn't necessarily a religious experience, although i'm sure that this statement will not compute for many who are religious. dying is however a very human experience that we will all share and it is important for us to be in the moments that we have with each other, especially in these necessarily final moments. peace be with you.