The world as we knew it is gone forever.
More and more, we are suspecting that this is true. This is true in big ways, and in small ways, but all loss is a form of death, and important to process in the loving container of spiritual community.
The sorrows of the world right now are so great they are overwhelming. People are dying, from COVID 19, but also from oppression. We are witnessing unprecedented environmental degradation. The economy is collapsing. We are heartbroken about all of this.
There are other losses that seem small and unimportant in comparison. The loss of physical touch, of gathering for worship and coffee hour. The loss of jobs, of school, of routine, of simple things we did not realize mattered so much. Like every other loss, we do not know what we had until it is gone.
Grief is the sorrow we feel at the death of someone or something. Why do we need to name it as grief? Because if we don’t name it, we can’t feel it. If we can’t feel it, and release it, we become numb, isolated, and lost.
Church is important because it is communal. We gather together to celebrate, and we gather in order to mourn. To witness one another’s grief. In community, your healing is my healing. To witness one another’s grief, to share our stories of loss, large and small, to hold one another in prayer as we build a new world: This is sacred work.
“We are remade in times of grief, broken apart and reassembled,” says Francis Weller, in his book on the sacred work of grief, The Wild Edge of Sorrow.
I invite you to join us in a six-week Zoom course beginning in August. We will use Weller’s excellent book, moving through what he calls the “Five Gates of Grief.” Using triads, we will take turns listening to one another as we explore our own stories of loss and healing. Using poetry, scripture and sacred images, we will sit together in reflective silence, and strengthen our practices of prayer and openness to the Divine.
The Sacred Work of Grief
Sundays, Noon - 1:30
August 2 & 23; September 6 & 20; October 4 &18.
Led by Christine Marie and Dan Martin
To sign up, or ask questions, email: christine@saint-marys.org
