Prayer to Hermes Psychopompos and a Request
Okay, the following is a bit personal. Please bear with me.
My grandfather was admitted to a nursing home a few weeks ago following hip surgery. He is in his mid-nineties. After the surgery, he entered physical therapy at the nursing home, but his condition deteriorated rapidly; he lost a lot of weight and strength. They started providing comfort care today because he asked in his health care proxy not to have a feeding tube. My grandfather served in World War II in the medical division, converting buildings into hospitals in England to receive the wounded, before traveling to the continent. Shortly before the war ended, he received short-term leave, and he was at home when they announced the surrender. The destruction he saw disillusioned him, and when I interviewed him about his experience (I now have an mp3 file), his final words were, “Heh. The military sucks.”
I prayed to Hermes Psychopompos this evening for him, speaking the Apostolos N. Athanassakis version of the Orphic Hymn to Hermes (#28) because the final sentence in his version of the hymn states, “Hear my prayer and grant a good end to a life of industry, gracious talk and mindfulness.” The Virginia Stewart-Avalon version concludes similarly: “Be present, Hermes, assist our works, grant us eloquence and flawless memories, and conclude our lives with peace.”
Following the hymn, I lit a stick of incense as an offering and asked Hermes Psychopompos to accept the hymn and the offering, and in return help my grandfather pass on without much more pain. While he doesn't care much for religion, it gives me some peace of mind.
But any pain I feel about his coming death is not as great as what my mother is going through at the moment. She and my uncle had to decide to implement his health care proxy, and it took a long time for her to come to terms with what he wanted. If you have any prayers, good thoughts, positive energy, or what have you, please send them her way.
UPDATE: Thanks to everyone who responded with kind words and/or actions. My grandfather passed away this Sunday shortly before 9 PM.
4 responses:
Of course, hon! I pray that Athena may help her see the wisdom in their decision.
My best thoughts, an my prayers for confort for all your family
That's a good prayer.
The hospice movement and its equivalents are about the best thing our civilization belatedly produced in the 20th century, I think, having been through what you are going through.
I hope your grandfather finds peace in release from this life, and I hope your mother can find the strength to cope with the loss. I know it's not easy. I've lost both my parents. I will offer a sacrifice and prayers on her behalf.
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