Tag Archives: grief
Everybody Grieves: Weekly Summary
Everybody Grieves Saturday, August 7, 2021 Week Thirty-One Summary and Practice Sunday, August 1—Friday, August 6, 2021 Sunday Because we’re human, we hurt. Because we’re human, we have tears to cry. Because we’re human, our hearts are broken. Because we’re human, we understand that loss is a universal language. Everybody grieves. —Rev. Jacqui Lewis Monday… Continue Reading Everybody Grieves: Weekly Summary
Grace Fills in the Gaps
Everybody Grieves Grace Fills in the Gaps Friday, August 6, 2021 To experience grace is one thing; to integrate it into your life is quite another. —Christian Wiman, My Bright Abyss The following three paragraphs came to me clearly in a very short time while I was walking along the Pacific Ocean during my Lenten… Continue Reading Grace Fills in the Gaps
An Accumulation of Losses
Everybody Grieves An Accumulation of Losses Thursday, August 5, 2021 Psychotherapist and author Francis Weller has studied grief for decades and has developed many rituals and methods to help individuals and communities heal from their losses. Here he explores how we often attempt to keep grief separate from our lives, and how welcoming our grief… Continue Reading An Accumulation of Losses
Good Grief
Everybody Grieves Good Grief Wednesday, August 4, 2021 When someone you love very much dies, the sky falls. And so you walk around under a fallen sky. —Mirabai Starr, Caravan of No Despair My dear friend Mirabai Starr has suffered many losses in her life, including that of her fourteen-year-old daughter Jenny, which Mirabai writes… Continue Reading Good Grief
The Gift of Tears
Everybody Grieves The Gift of Tears Tuesday, August 3, 2021 The human instinct is to block suffering and pain. This is especially true in the West where we have been influenced by the “rationalism” of the Enlightenment. As anyone who has experienced grief can attest, it isn’t rational. We really don’t know how to hurt!… Continue Reading The Gift of Tears
The Devastation of Grief
Everybody Grieves The Devastation of Grief Monday, August 2, 2021 In the Hebrew Scriptures, we find Job moving through Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s well-known stages of grief and dying: denial, anger, bargaining, resignation, and acceptance. The first seven days of Job’s time on the “dung heap” of pain are spent in silence, the immediate response matching the… Continue Reading The Devastation of Grief
Vulnerability: A Divine Condition
Everybody Grieves Vulnerability: A Divine Condition Sunday, August 1, 2021 We live in a finite world where everything is dying, shedding its strength. This is hard to accept, and all our lives we look for exceptions to it. We look for something certain, strong, undying, and infinite. Religion tells us that the “something” for which… Continue Reading Vulnerability: A Divine Condition
Jesus’ Upside-Down World
The Sermon on the Mount Jesus’ Upside-Down World Monday, July 19, 2021 What is called the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel (5:1–7:29) is called the Sermon on the Plain in Luke’s Gospel (6:20–49). What we call in Matthew the Eight Beatitudes, we call in Luke the Blessings and Woes (four of each). Today… Continue Reading Jesus’ Upside-Down World
Gazing on the Crucified Jesus
Trauma and Healing Gazing on the Crucified Jesus Friday, May 7, 2021 Those who “gaze upon” the crucified Jesus (John 19:37) long enough—with contemplative eyes—are always healed at deep levels of pain, unforgiveness, aggression, and victimhood. It demands no theological education at all, just an “inner exchange” by receiving the image within and offering one’s… Continue Reading Gazing on the Crucified Jesus
Grieving the Trees
The Contemplative Call to Nature Grieving the Trees Tuesday, April 20, 2021 Love and grief go hand in hand. Sometimes it is the deep grief we feel during loss that awakens us to the depth and sincerity of our love. As we witness the many ways the earth has been exploited and damaged beyond repair… Continue Reading Grieving the Trees