A high school graduation party for the daughter of a beloved friend who died 14 years ago evoked memories, sorrow, laughter and hope. But deep in the throes of sadness for those we lose, like Kyle Lake and Rachel Held Evans, is the reality of God’s stubborn insistence that life always follows death.
Embracing Good Friday’s pain even when Easter’s hope seems galaxies away
Good Friday isn’t just a set-up for Easter Sunday and the ham and new shoes that accompany that day. Good Friday is about grief. It’s about death and dying, pain and loss, emptiness and hopelessness. To beam the light in too quickly will render us unable to see.
Reclaiming joy in widowhood: a conversation with author Ella Prichard
In a book for new widows, author Ella Pritchard describes her experience of grief, recovery and “return to joy” in the months and years following the death of her husband, Lev, after 46 years of marriage.
You CAN go home again
When we use our imaginations, our grief and loss have the potential to become the silent, fertile seedbed for redemptive, life-giving deeds.
Churches should act to counter ‘Blue Monday’ blues, ministers say
Over a decade ago, a travel company launched an advertising campaign declaring the third Monday in January to be the most depressing day of the year. Some scoff at the calculations used to pick “Blue Monday,” which would be Jan….
Blue Christmas service seeks to comfort the grieving
Christmas can be anything but the most wonderful time of the year for those suffering from grief and loss, and a number of churches seek to comfort the afflicted with a Blue Christmas service providing a safe place during the…
To help someone grieving at the holidays, avoid platitudes, experts say
The holidays are especially hard on those mourning the loss of loved ones and friends. And that suffering is often made worse by well-meaning-but-nervous friends who don’t know what to say — or not say — to those who are grieving. “A…
Who will we be tomorrow?
There’s been a lot of conversation about exactly how folks — especially church folks — are feeling about this dreadful election season. Anger, resentment, disappointment, offense, shock — the list goes on. I’ve certainly felt each of those at some…
No one warned me that ministry would make a mortician out of me
I want to build the casket and dig the hole. We usually hire those jobs out, but I want to do it myself. Remember the scene in Harry Potter where Harry buries Dobby, but refuses to use magic? Something about…