Know the paradox of grief: You are not alone – many people walk the journey with and alongside you. God certainly walks with us and many times, carries us. Yet we feel that we are alone. The inner journey of grief is ours alone to take and no one can do that inner work, the letting go, the forgiveness, the decision to let the healing happen and move on. In that inner work, the Holy Spirit comforts and guides us.
Some grief is never gone. It’s a forever-hole in our hearts. We learn to live with it. Other types of grief, when processed, are finished at some point in time. We may be changed by it, but we really are done grieving.
In the end, grief won’t have the last word. God holds and surrounds us with lavish love, caressing comfort and serene strength. That same God who walks with us day by day through the grief also holds out to us the promise of new life. Hold on to that hope and keep walking toward the Light, which is Christ.
This message is excerpted from “The Faces of Grief” by Sonia Solomonson, a 2010 resource of the Women of the ELCA.
Copyright © 2024 Women of the ELCA. Inquiries for permission to reproduce should be directed to [email protected]. If you enjoy this resource, Donate Now.