--- title: Kindness to the dying and visiting the old — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Kindness to the dying and visiting the old», a lesson of the religion ethics course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Ellie visits her great-aunt in a hospice, a calm place that cares for people who are dying, and worries «what do I say? --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/77-kindness-to-the-dying-and-visiting-the-old/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Religion ethics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/) / Kindness to the dying and visiting the… # Kindness to the dying and visiting the old Lesson 77 of the religion ethics course of Mova's primary school: 18 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/religion-ethics/77-kindness-to-the-dying-and-visiting-the-old/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/77-kindness-to-the-dying-and-visiting-the-old/0/) — Ellie visits her great-aunt in a hospice, a calm place that cares for people who are dying, and worries «what do I say? she can hardly talk»; but she does not need many words: holding a hand, smiling, reading aloud or showing a drawing can mean a lot, and hearing is thought to be one of the last senses to fade. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/77-kindness-to-the-dying-and-visiting-the-old/1/) — Dying people are still people who enjoy ordinary things: Jasmine asks Lucy to paint her nails, and Sam's grandad would love to talk about football; families like Ethan's take turns to sit with Grandma so she is never alone. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/77-kindness-to-the-dying-and-visiting-the-old/2/) — Old people in care homes and those living alone can be lonely: Oscar finds visiting his nan boring, but his visit may be the best part of her week, and Mia's gran telling the same story again is a chance to listen kindly. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/77-kindness-to-the-dying-and-visiting-the-old/3/) — Jesus said, «I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you visited me», and Christians see visiting the sick and old as serving him; the modern hospice was started by Cicely Saunders, a Christian nurse and doctor, in London in 1967, and people of every faith and none now support hospices. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/77-kindness-to-the-dying-and-visiting-the-old/4/) — Kindness also means noticing: if a lonely neighbour has not been seen for days, tell a grown-up, who can check safely; an old person who has fallen may need help fast. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/77-kindness-to-the-dying-and-visiting-the-old/5/) — For a child today this means: your company is a real gift, and being there is often enough. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/77-kindness-to-the-dying-and-visiting-the-old/6/) — A hospice is a place that cares for people who are dying, helping them to be comfortable and live as well as they can. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/77-kindness-to-the-dying-and-visiting-the-old/7/) — The modern hospice movement was started by Cicely Saunders, a Christian nurse and doctor, who opened St Christopher's Hospice in London in 1967. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/77-kindness-to-the-dying-and-visiting-the-old/8/) — Hearing is thought to be one of the last senses to fade, so dying people may still hear kind words. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/77-kindness-to-the-dying-and-visiting-the-old/9/) — Holding a hand, smiling, reading aloud or showing a drawing can comfort someone who cannot talk much. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/77-kindness-to-the-dying-and-visiting-the-old/10/) — Many families take turns to sit with a dying relative so that they are never alone; Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus and others all have this tradition. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/77-kindness-to-the-dying-and-visiting-the-old/11/) — Music can bring back strong memories; tears during a song do not always mean sadness. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/77-kindness-to-the-dying-and-visiting-the-old/12/) — When writing to someone who will not get better, words like «I love you» or «Thinking of you» are both kind and true. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/77-kindness-to-the-dying-and-visiting-the-old/13/) — Dying people still enjoy ordinary things, like having their nails painted or chatting about football. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/77-kindness-to-the-dying-and-visiting-the-old/14/) — Old people living alone can fall or become ill; if one has not been seen for days, tell a grown-up straight away. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/77-kindness-to-the-dying-and-visiting-the-old/15/) — Some old people forget they have told a story before; listening patiently is a kindness. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/77-kindness-to-the-dying-and-visiting-the-old/16/) — Jesus taught that visiting the sick and those in prison is like visiting him. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/77-kindness-to-the-dying-and-visiting-the-old/17/) — Children can join church or community groups that visit lonely old people, with a grown-up. - ← previous: [Living well because life is short](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/76-living-well-because-life-is-short/) - next →: [Gifts of life: organ donation and giving blood](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/78-gifts-of-life-organ-donation-and-giving-blood/) - ↑ back to [Religion ethics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/)