How do you process your grief? What ways have you found to express your pain, anger, sadness?
Above all, don’t avoid the pain; the only way to get over the pain is through it—not under, above, or around it. Sometimes, though, you simply have to give yourself a break from facing it. That’s okay too. As Molly Fumia says in her book Safe Passage, “There is someone inside of us who knows exactly what to do.” You will know deep inside what you need and when you need it. It’s your journey. You set the pace.
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. But even in that inner work, the Holy Spirit comforts and guides us.
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].