Book Review: On Living

Kerry Egan is a graduate of Harvard Divinity School and is a hospice chaplain. The book is a collections of lessons that she has derived from her experiences, and observations about live, death, and spirituality.

Egan describes her chaplain’s role as talking and listening to patients about their families and, perhaps, about religion, God, or the meaning of life — but mostly about families. “Family is where we first experience love and where we first give it.”

The author invites us to say important things now without waiting, to live without regret, to cherish our bodies how they are. She reminds us that what we were in life we are in death: “Death does not automatically make you a better person.” 

Egan attempt to inform the read that everyone is broken, but that listening to others’ stories can heal a person’s soul. “I know this because it healed mine.” The dying are still living, still growing, still learning, and may want to release long-held secrets or simply want to be seen as who there were before they became ill.

As attorneys, we are trained to be logical and analytical and to solve problems for our clients. Reading this book will guide us in contemplating the softer side of ourselves, the work we do, and the clients we represent. It invites us to consider how our experiences with our clients shape us, both individually and professionally.

See Shelley D. Coelho, Book Review: On Living, NAELA,org, Spring, 2018.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.) for bringing this article to my attention.