An Outline of the Presentation

Beautiful Like Summer Flowers, Beautiful Like Autumn Leaves:
A Tribute to End-of-Life Caregivers in Photography, Word, and Music

     Jim first makes introductory comments, explaining the purpose behind the presentation. He also introduces Rabindranath Tagore as a person and writer. He then begins speaking about the beauty of life, calling upon four quotations from Tagore, elaborating with his own words, while showing images of summer flowers, arranged by various artistic themes and expressions.
      A sample of this section:
White and pink oleanders meet and make merry in different dialects. (Tagore)
White and pink oleanders Tagore wrote about.
Flowers as common in his part of the world as daisies in ours.
Summer colors meeting in merriment, expressing joy, making joy, being joy.
They show off life’s endless variety by embodying it, right where they’re born.
Meeting in overflowing mirth, these creations speak in their own
      distinctive dialects.
The flowers of summer issue a universal invitation:
     "Let us live radiantly each morning we’re allotted, each evening we’re allowed.”

     Later Jim introduces and develops the second half of Tagore’s main quotation: “Let death be beautiful as autumn leaves.” A short sample:
Death belongs to life as birth does. The walk is in the raising of the foot
      as in the laying of it down. (Tagore)
Death belongs to life every bit as much as birth does.
The walk, Tagore says, is just as much in the laying down
      as it is in the raising up.
The forward motion of our living is in the letting go just
      as much as in the holding on.
Death belongs to life—they are not separate but conjoined.
In the very deepest sense they do not oppose one another
      but complement one another.
The dying is born of the birthing.
And all our births contain within themselves the seeds for our deaths.
It is a natural plan, but Tagore says it’s more than natural—
      it’s supernatural.
This walk of birth and life and death, and birth, is divinely inspired,
      divinely carried out.
What begins will end, with divine blessing.
What comes into physical being will pass from physical being,
      with divine awareness.

      After developing these ideas in more detail, Jim explains that he believes in our culture today there is that group of people who resonate with Tagore’s ideas more than most, and that group is end-of-life caregivers. He then proceeds to speak simply and straightforwardly about what he has learned about work these people perform, which he has picked up by listening to them talk and by watching them work. This section begins:
I have learned that the work you do is hard—
      sometimes physically, often mentally and emotionally,
            sometimes spiritually.
I have learned that some of your work days are better than others,
      that all of you have those days that take an awful lot out of you.
And still, you get up the next morning and start out again.
I have learned that many of you must do things that are
      unpleasant to do, and without complaining,
            you do them anyway, simply because you care.
I have learned that many of you experience your work as a calling—
      there has been a personal summons and you have responded.
For some of you, you do not have a choice—you cannot not do this.

      This longer section develops the uniqueness of end-of-life caregiving, with many images, sensitively taken, of this caregiving in action.
      Later still he speaks about the experience of photographing the faces of end-of-life workers, and of looking at those photographs afterward, noting what people’s eyes expressed. The faces slowly dissolve into each other as he speaks quite briefly about each one. A short sample of his words includes:
Your eyes have said, “I am pleased to do this work.”
“I am proud to do this work.”
“I am gratified to do this work.”
“I am blessed to be able to do what I do.”
Your eyes said, “”I bring to this work tenderness.”
“I bring to this work truthfulness.”
“I bring to this work humanness.”
“I bring sacredness to this work.”
“I bring happiness to this work.”

      Next Jim introduces the song, “The Light of Day.” He explains that the words are written as if a dying person were speaking to their end-of-life caregiver, communicating what is important for them to say. Some of the strongest images in the entire presentation are reserved for this section. The song begins:
There comes a time in this life’s journey
When loss is all that I can see.
When days are dark and nights grow long
I ask where hope could be.
Then you come to me, your arms enfolding,
You come to here, and here you’ll stay.
You promise when this night is over
I’ll come to see the light of day,
      The third stanza especially expresses the strong truth that end-of-life caregivers deserve to hear. You will find all the words to the song here.

      As the song concludes, it’s time to move to the final message that Jim has to offer. He says he has a thank you to speak, and then he begins speaking it:
Thank you, all of you, for your hard work.
Thank you for spending your days in such tireless devotion,
      even when you’re tired.
Thank you for spending your years in such a trying occupation,
      where pain is unavoidable.
Thank you for doing all the things you do, both little and large.
Thank you for washing fragile skin with such careful, caring strokes.
Thank you for doing all those things for your patients that
      people don’t like to talk about,
            and for doing them so graciously and nonchalantly.
Thank you for living out of your car.
Thank you for driving through fog and rain and snow and heat
      and darkness
            because someone needs you,
                  perhaps someone you’ve never met.
After many more thank-yous, he concludes:
Thank you for trusting that That Which Is Greater Than All of Us
      is greater than this life and greater than all of death.
Thank you for representing that which is the very best in all humanity
      by tending to the dying and to their families on behalf of all of us.
And finally, thank you for living and working and loving
      as if life were as beautiful as summer flowers, which it is,
            and thank you for showing us how death can be
                  as beautiful as autumn leaves,
                        which you so wonderfully do.
Thank you.

An interview with Jim Miller about the "Beautiful..." presentation
The lyrics to the song "The Light of Day"
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