"One Love: What the Dying Taught Me About How to Live" • Lecture by Angela Almond

Sunday, April 19th, 2026

We welcome you to read the lecture transcript below, watch the video, and/or share your thoughts in the comments!

About the Lecturer

Angela Almond is an intuitive with a deep spiritual focus who has spent over twenty years serving others with compassion as a hospice volunteer and as a facilitator for grief support programs. She is also a Level Two Reiki Practitioner, bringing healing energy into her ministry and daily life. Angela is a senior at St. Leo University, pursuing her bachelor’s degree in Religious Studies, and currently works as Manager of Health Information Management for the Bon Secours Hampton Roads Hospitals, and also currently serves as a director at large on the Chapel's board of directors. Angela brings together scholarship, service, and spirit, believing that the sacred is often found in the everyday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1JdJdHC3Kc

One Love: What the Dying Taught Me About How to Live

A Lecture from Angela Almond

Opening Prayer

Father, Mother, God, Divine Presence, known by many names, experienced in many ways, yet one in essence. We welcome your loving awareness here today. We gather in the spirit of one love, the love that transcends religion, culture, identity and belief. Today we remember that love is not owned by any one path. It is the path. Let's quiet our minds, soften our hearts to the wisdom life offers us this morning. Thank you.

One Love

And so I want to talk to you today about one love.

We just listened to a wonderful, I think just beautiful song, "How Could Anyone" by Shaina Noll. And so I just want you to take a moment and just recall those words. Let it sit with you.

How could anyone, how could anyone ever tell you that you are less than beautiful? How could anyone, anyone tell you that you were less than whole?

Because if we were all honest, we've heard similar words, either spoken or unspoken, at some point in our lives.

We've been told that we are not enough, that we are not worthy and not lovable. But in this world, we're taught to see separation, differences in religion, identity and beliefs. We're taught to measure, compare, and sometimes even divide. And what this song brings us back to, and just why it just resonates with me so, is that it brings us back to the truth of who we are, that there is something inside of us that recognizes this truth.

And I know you could feel it. You know, when you heard that song, if you didn't feel anything, I know you ought to check your pulse. You know, because we are not broken. We are not lacking. And we are not separate from what is divine, even if life, no matter how hard life has tried to convince you otherwise, we are not separate from the divine. Something deep inside of us still whispers the truth of who we are. That beneath all the labels, all the differences, all the stories we carry, that there is something sacred. There is something sacred in each one of us. And that sacred essence is pure love. Pure love. It's the same love. It's not many loves. It's not separate loves. It's not more over there and less over here. It is all one love.

Lessons from the Threshold: Twenty Years in Hospice

And I want to share with you this morning some of the most sacred moments that I've ever witnessed, where all of these labels, all of these differences just fell away. And having over 20 years of experience as a hospice volunteer and chaplain, my husband Reg and I, we have had the profound, the profound honor of sitting with people from different faiths, many faiths. Some were very religious. Some were not religious at all. Some were not religious, but spiritual. Some were atheist. Some were from different cultures. There was LGBT communities, individuals, different ages, different backgrounds. They all had different life stories. But in those moments at the end of life, those differences no longer mattered. The differences lose their weight and something extraordinary is revealed. And it doesn't matter what color, again, your culture, it is the same grace, the same presence, the same love with everyone and it's unconditional.

And what the dying have taught me have reinforced is not just something about how we live this life, but something powerful about how we were meant to live this life. Because if that same love, that same presence, that same grace is with us at the end of our life, you better believe it is with us right now. It is accessible to us right now. And it's been here all along. It's within us. It's between us.

And I just want to share briefly with you some of the moments that I've learned, about how we can begin to live from that place of love right here and right now, about how we can begin to live from that place of our higher self, that love. And this is a journey where revelation happens, not only through words, but through experience and through resonance.

Love Is the Curriculum

And here's the secret. Learning to live from that place of love, you ready for this?

This is the secret.

Got your ears open?

Okay.

Learning to live from that place of love — and you know we've all chose to be here on this earth at this time, right?

— so learning to live from that place of love right now is the curriculum. It's the curriculum.

Out of all the techniques that we can do, all the meditation techniques that are out there, all of the breathing, breath work, there's so many things that people do to help raise their consciousness. But I would dare to say that learning to love, learning to see past differences is the greatest spiritual practice that there is. And this was bound to be true by every teacher that has been sent here, every ascended master, no matter what religion, whatever system of belief they came from, they all had the same central theme through their teachings, that love is the basis of who we are. And it is, because the scriptures say that God is love. And that is the very essence of who we are.

How I Came to Hospice Work

Well, I want to tell you why I became a hospice volunteer, how that all came about. It started when I was in Atlanta. I think this was in the early, early eighties and I worked at Grady Hospital there and I had a friend who worked in hospice. She was a volunteer and she said, you know, Angela, you would be a great volunteer. And I was like, you know, say hospice, you know. Death, dying people, no, no. And she said, no, no, no. She said, come, I want you to come to a care team meeting and just see how everything works and just see how you feel about it. So I went to a meeting at the hospital and the care team meeting consists of the doctors, the nurse, the volunteer aides, the social worker, and they discuss the patients that they saw that week.

Okay, and this one patient that they were discussing — and any names that I happen to use during this talk is all fictitious. Okay, I mean the people are real, but the names have been changed to protect the innocent. So, but the young man who they were talking about at this meeting, he had AIDS and you know in the early 80s, AIDS, there was not a lot of information about AIDS and there was a lot of fear. There just wasn't a whole lot known. So for any individual who was suffering from that illness, they were ostracized, you know, aside from all the effects of the illness itself. And so when they were discussing this individual, everything that individual did through the week was so important. It mattered whether they smiled that day, whether they were able to sit up that day, how much they ate, what they said, everything, everything mattered. And that just touched my heart. It just touched my heart because I said, isn't that how we should treat each other anyway? You know, why should we have to wait till the end of our life, till someone is ill, you know, and people come around to experience that? You know, we should be feeling and caring for each other like that every day. And so that was the start of my journey into hospice.

Three Stories of Love Beyond Difference

And I just want to share some of the things that I've learned, just a couple of things, because over the 20 years, we've seen a lot of people. We've sat with a lot of different faiths and a lot of different experiences, but I just want to share a couple of them with you. One of the things that they all had in common is that at the end of life, people, they do a lot of work. A lot of inner work is being done at that time. And for a lot of people, that is really the first time that they really live their authentic self. That's when all the labels strip away, all the titles, and they say things that they've been meaning to say all their life. Whether it's I love you to someone that they haven't said that to in a long time, and even to say I love you to themselves, you know, it's not just other people, but how we treat ourselves, what is our inner dialogue concerning ourselves? That is so important as well.

And one of the things that I've learned with each individual is that words are not always necessary. Sometimes the greatest thing that you can do is to offer your presence. And with the divine living in you, the spirit of God within you, you have that divine presence. And that's part of our job, if you will, for souls who have decided to incarnate here at this time, is to share that presence. And it doesn't require anything from you. You don't have to be perfect. You don't have to have a PhD. You don't have to have all of those things. You just have to be in touch with your inner self, your higher self, and that emanates naturally from you.

Earl: Looking Beyond the Physical

But one of the individuals that I had the pleasure of knowing, and I'll just call him Earl, and from him I learned to look beyond physical disabilities. And this could be looking beyond even emotional or psychological, you know, what we perceive to be shortcomings. And this was in Atlanta. And this individual, he had a cancer that had metastasized to his head. And I know the chaplain was talking to me about giving me a prep about him and she was trying to, I guess, prepare me so that when I went to talk with him, you know, and to be with him that, you know, I would know what to expect. Okay. And she told me that he always wore a hat because when the cancer metastasized to his head, he had all of these growths all over his head.

And the amazing thing about Earl is that he had been in hospice for a while and then he said, I'm not ready. And he was married and he had, I think he had two kids, but he said, I'm not ready. He decided he was not ready. So he came out of the hospice program. Now to be in hospice, you know, you're given like six months or less to live, right? And so during the time that he stepped out, he got the house remodeled. He did all of these things to help his wife so that after his passing, she would have everything that she needed. He was so concerned about that. And when he finished all of that, he called the chaplain and said, okay, I'm ready. And then that's when she called me. So I went to see him.

You know, and I was going up and I was trying to prepare myself. You know, they told me, you know, what to expect physically. And so when I went into his home and at that time there were family members there and he was in the bed, in like the back part of the living room. And he was kind of laying on the side. His eyes were open and so when I went in, it was like, I don't know, it was almost like, I don't want to say mystical, but there was that connection. I looked — he didn't have his hat on — but I looked him straight in the eyes and he looked at me. And it was like I could hear what he had to say, what he wanted. And his thoughts were with his wife.

And I said, okay, you know, I sat with him a little bit and I held his hand and told him that everything was going to be all right and that he did a great job. You did a great job. And I said, I know you want me to go to be with your wife and I'm going to go talk with her now. And he just looked at me and he was like, you know, he couldn't — he wasn't really — he could comprehend, but you know, he really couldn't speak.

And so I went to be with his wife and just that look on his face when I told him I was going to see his wife, it just lit up. It lit up. And from him, I learned looking beyond physical, looking beyond, you know, what other people categorize as shortcomings. Okay. And this is part of one love. And this is what part of Jesus came to talk about. You know, our brother Jesus, believe it or not, he did not come to bring a religion. He did not come to be worshiped. He came to be an example of us, of how to be in alignment with that Christ consciousness within, with our higher self. And that's what I learned from Earl.

John: The Gift of Presence

And this other gentleman that I want to share, he was a retired Marine. I think he was in his late seventies. And from all outward appearances, you would not think we had anything in common. I mean, he was the tough — he was a tough guy, marine, big guy, and he was European American. So I say that because, you know, his family was there. And, you know, they had different backgrounds, different beliefs, and you would not think, you know, you would think at that time, had it been any other time, focus may have been on our differences, but it wasn't. It wasn't. And this is one of those instances where, you know, labels and categories and things like that just fell away.

And the thing that really stood out with John was that his was really truly mystical. And when I went to see him, I would go to see him, I kind of cleared my own consciousness, my own mind, so that I could hear. My stance was to follow the lead of the patient. And so I wanted to be able to hear what I was to say, if there were words to be said.

Okay, so for John, the main thing with him — and he was quite a character too, and we got to become quite close with John and his family — his fear of dying, and there was no one to talk about that with. He couldn't talk about that with anyone, you know, because family members, you know, a lot of people are not comfortable with that conversation.

So this one visit, he wanted to know what to expect. You know, he wanted to know what it was going to be like. And so, you know, I'm kind of listening. Okay, Spirit, where do you want me to go from here? Now, at this time, I wouldn't say that I was kind of into the woo like I am now. But I then knew that there was something greater, something beyond that connected us that was directing me. And to express this in a manner that he would understand, I said, well, you know, the love you have for your granddaughter. I said, can you imagine that? How do you feel when you see your granddaughter when she comes into the room? And he was like, you know, okay. And I said, you're so full of love, aren't you? And he goes, yeah, you know, love, love that little girl. And I said, that's what it's like. That's what you can expect. And no matter how terrified you may be right now just thinking about it, when that moment comes, there is a grace.

And I've seen this no matter what background, how the person has lived their life, whatever their story was, there is a grace, there is a love that meets everyone, no matter how they pass, whether it's tragic, whether it's after a long illness. At that moment, at that part, there is a grace, there is a love that meets them.

And I told John, I said, well, you know, it's like leaving this place, it's almost like — and I had on my jacket at the time, and I remember I just kind of took it off — and I said, you're like taking off your jacket. You know, you're taking off what's cumbersome. You're taking off an overcoat. And then, you know, you're kind of stepping out. And just as people here will miss your presence, there will be those to welcome you on that side.

And it seemed to bring him peace. And it gave his family a lot of peace. And he was from a traditional Christian background. And then at his passing, at his funeral, my husband and I were of course invited to come. And it was way out, and we were running a little bit behind and they would not start the funeral until we got there. They wanted everything just to begin when we got there.

But that's what I learned from John — is that presence is everything, just the presence. And no matter what your identities, you know, it all falls away, all of the labels. Sometimes we just held hands. And in that space, somewhere in that space, there was a shift where two human beings just connected. And that's what I felt in that moment — the same love that we just sang about, that we heard in the song that played at the beginning. A love that does not depend on agreement. It doesn't require sameness. But a love that simply is. It's a love that says, I see you and you matter. We're not as separate as we think.

A Young Man with Eagle's Wings: Love That Endures

And then the last one I just want to share is this young man. He was 18 and he had this illness. It was a type of muscular dystrophy that affected the males in the family. Not the females, but it was the males. And I remember when I was given this patient, the grief counselor — and this was here in Newport News — was telling me about this patient and his family. His older brother had passed of the same illness. So he knew, I guess, what to expect. And this had taken its toll on the family and they had made the decision that after he passed, they were going to get a divorce.

So when they were telling me all of this, you know, then I was a little bit more traditional, I was still head and foot in the more traditional Christianity, and I'm like, devil, you cannot have him. You know, you cannot have this family. You know, I don't know how, but they are not going to divorce. You can't have it. You can't have it.

And so Reg and I went to see him and our intention, our plan was, while we, you know, ministered or sat with the young man, was to have a chance to talk with the parents. Well, that didn't happen. We didn't get a chance to talk with the parents. You know, every time we went there — and I even took Cecilia. Is Cecilia here? Okay. She even went with us. And because he loved, I think it was some kind of toys, something that he liked. But anyway, he didn't have a lot of interaction with younger kids. So, you know, and that was one of the side things of being a child of me and Reg. You gotta do stuff like that. But anyway, we never did have a chance to talk with the parents, but we did sit a lot with the young man and he had the most beautiful glow. He was luminous. You could see the spirit just come through his eyes. And I had given him a pin of eagle's wings, you know, because he had that kind of spirit.

And we talked to him about the love of God. We didn't preach, we never, never preached. And we just sat with the parents, interactive, whatever they needed us to do, we did. And we even baptized the young man. He wanted to be baptized. So we did that. And at the time of his passing, he had told his mother that he wanted to be wearing that pin, eagle's wings.

So he did that. And Reggie and I did their funeral. We actually did everything. We supplied the music, the programs. And all the people were his family. And it was actually in one of the cemetery's funeral homes. And I remember music was playing and I was praying. It was a small building, like in the middle of the cemetery. And so we were praying. And then when I looked up, I think about three more young men with the same illness — they're all in the same family, like cousins — they had wheeled in and they were, you know, at the side of the pew in the aisle.

And, well, we had a lovely service and everything. And afterwards I heard one of the young men tell his father, he said, you never told me I was going to die from this. Because he was seeing his cousin for the first time. And then afterwards, you know, we had a lot of people that wanted Reginald to talk with them. But the long story short, they ended up not getting a divorce. And it was because of what we were told about just how Reg and I interacted with each other and with the couple and just whatever. And this is where presence will speak through. And this isn't just reserved for us because we do what we do. You have the same power that's within you.

They did not get a divorce and they actually made a donation to the hospice program at the hospital here.

Why Must We Wait?

And so I've seen this time and time again. And this love shows up so clearly at the end of life, when everything falls away. Then why do we have to wait until the end to recognize it? To see each other so clearly, to love without condition. And I think it's easier at that time because a lot of things that are unnecessary in our lives just naturally fall away. So what would it look like if we chose right now to see each other beyond the labels, beyond our differences, beyond the stories that we've been told about one another? What would it look like to meet each person we encounter with that same presence and that same love?

Because I truly believe that the greatest lesson is this: love is not something we earn, it's not something reserved for certain people or certain moments, it's who we are. It's the essence. It's the kingdom of heaven within us. And this truth is not new, it's been spoken and taught and lived long, long before us.

In the Gospel of Luke 17:20–21, we're told that the Kingdom of God does not come with observation, nor will they say, see here or see there, for the Kingdom of God is within you. Everyone put your hand on your heart and say, within me. It's not outside you. It's not reserved for another time. It's not reserved for the great by and by or another place, but it is within you. And if the kingdom of God is within us, then what lives within us? I tell you, it's love, the very essence of who we are.

And this is what our brother Jesus Christ came to show us. He did not come to be admired. He did not come to be worshiped. When he said that I am the way, the truth and the life, he was not talking about his personality. He was talking about a way, an extraordinary way of being that is to be a model for us, for our life. It's that consciousness, that Christ consciousness.

And it's so funny — and about to wrap up — I saw this sticker, I don't know, it was online. It may have been, I don't know. It was online. But it was like a sticker of Jesus and he was going like this, he's like, oh my God, that's not what I said. And that's the way it is, because you know, scriptures, as I've been learning in my studies, everything's been written and rewritten and rewritten and rewritten, removed, put in, changed to reflect the agenda of whoever was in power, whatever, at the time. But he came to be a model of what it looked like to be fully anchored in love.

And as I said, the words have been changed. When he said, I am the way, the truth and the life, what if it was really, I AM is the way, the truth, the life? That's different. That is so different. So he came to be an example of how to be aligned with your higher self. And he is one of many teachers who came to show us who we are and who we can become. And if we truly take his teachings to heart, then we are called, particularly at this time in humanity's history, not just to believe in love, but like Jesus, we are called to embody it, to live it, to extend it, and to recognize it in one another. And it's that same love that's within us. It connects us and it guides us and it calls us to be higher.

Closing: One Love Lives Within Me

And so before I close, I want to invite you to take this moment with me. Because this is not something that's to be just heard, but it's something to be remembered. And I want us to kind of remember this together. So I'll say a line, and if it resonates with you, I invite you to respond. To respond: one love lives in me. So okay, so let's try it. Here we go.

The kingdom of God is not far away. It is within you.

One love lives within me.

You are not separate. You are not lacking. You are beautiful. You are whole.

One love lives within me.

We are connected beyond every label, beyond every distance. We are connected.

One love lives within me.

That same love that meets us in our final moments lives within us right now.

One love lives within me.

And so as we go out, as we leave this place, let's kind of commit ourselves to live this truth.

And so I want to leave this with you.

The kingdom of heaven, one love, is within you. So let us pray.

Dear Father, Mother, God, we thank you for speaking to our hearts, reminding us that we are not human beings seeking love, but love expressed as human beings. And so it is.