Holding Space: On Loving, Dying, and Letting Go [Paperback]

A look at the spiritual, emotional, and philosophical implications of end-of-life care by an elegant and literary writer who is a hospital chaplain.

As a hospital chaplain, Amy Wright Glenn has been present with those suffering from suicide, trauma, disease, and unforeseen accidents and has been witness to the intense grief and powerful insights that so often accompany loss. She weaves together memoir, philosophical inquiry, and cutting-edge research on death/dying to chronicle how we, as individuals and as a culture, handle everything from grief to mortality.

Glenn is also a professional birth doula with a deep and committed mindfulness practice who has thought deeply about the significance of human love and loss. She asks us to embrace the task of being present with what is -- through courageous and mindful expressions of compassionate presence -- and helps us to accept the fact of our own mortality on a visceral and emotional level, not simply as an intellectual abstraction.

Holding Spaceconcludes by integrating key insights drawn from working directly with the dying into a moving and compelling meditation on the healing power of holding space for all involved in caring for the dying, a healing sorely needed in our culture at this time.“Doula, chaplain, theologian, mother, wounded daughter, philosopher, lover, Amy Wright Glenn writes with poetry and power… Holding Space, part memoir and part spiritual exploration, is brilliantly written and asks the central question we all face in this life. ‘What does it mean to love, die and let go?’”—Patricia Harman, Arms Wide Open and The Midwife of Hope River  

“This book is like a superhero, showing us how to run bravely toward the darkness and come out the other side as a human being. Amy deserves not just praise for writing in gorgeous, clear prose, but deep thanks for creating a gentlelC&