¶ Journey Through Grief and Healing
Thank you , welcome to this week's episode of Solace , soul Plus Grief . I'm Candy Lucas . We're glad you're here . This podcast is sponsored by Catholic Cemeteries and the Diocese of San Jose .
The death of a loved one is a very difficult life transition and we hope we can answer some of your questions , help you find where God is moving in your life as you continue your grief journey , and remind you of the power of your faith and love for God . You're always welcome in our circle of healing , love and care .
When we are grieving , we oftentimes experience the tunnel vision of our grief . It colors the world around us , affects the way our food tastes , the way the air feels , the manner in which we hear and understand people around us . It colors our present and may distort our pasts and futures as time goes on .
In our grief journey , we don't often stop and take stock of where we are now compared to where we were when the death occurred and we had fresh grief , fresh sadness , fresh loss , fresh emotions .
This is one of the reasons I encourage people to keep a journal during this time , because it will serve to preserve memories that are important and it's also a helpful way to gauge progress on your journey . You can find your new growth here .
You can note how your relationship with your loved one changes , how your relationship with God changes and how your relationship with God changes and how your relationship with yourself changes . And so today , for our reflection , we turn to Khalil Gibran and the Prophet and we start at the point of death .
And he said you would know the secret of death , but how shall you find it ? Unless you seek it in the heart of life . The owl , whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day , cannot unveil the mystery of light .
If you would indeed behold the spirit of death , open your heart wide unto the body of life , for death and life are one , even as the river and the sea are one . In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond . And , like seeds dreaming beneath the snow , your heart dreams of spring .
Trust the dreams , for in them is hidden the gate to eternity . Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honor . Is the shepherd not joyful , beneath his trembling , that he shall wear the mark of the king ? Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling ?
For what is it to die , but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun ? And what is it to cease breathing , but to free the breath from its restless tides , that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered ?
And only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing , and when you have from the river of silence shall you indeed sing . And when you have reached the mountaintop , then you shall begin to climb . And when the earth shall claim your limbs , then shall you truly dance . Those early days may seem unbearable . We hardly know . We're in them .
Many of us are moving through them , rather rotely , performing necessary tasks , trying to sleep , trying to escape from the pain , if only for a few hours . That pain is so fresh , it is bracing .
It becomes our new underpinning , it becomes our new marker , a new place to recover from and revisit , because somehow , moving away from the pain feels like we are moving away from our loved one , and that we cannot do because they have moved away from us .
They have moved away from us in our temporal lives , but they have moved toward God , and so it makes sense that we can find them there , their essence , their goodness , the power and energy of their love , love created on earth in the arms of God , because that is where they are resting currently .
¶ Spiritual Podcast Solace With Candy Lucas
That concludes another episode of Solace . A new one drops every Friday . Please subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts , spotify , amazon or find us on Google . I'm Candy Lucas , your host , aftercare Coordinator , chaplain and Spiritual Director at Catholic Cemeteries at Gate of Heaven in Los Altos , california . Gate of Heaven in Los Altos , california .
Please contact us if you have questions or seek spiritual direction . Our contact information is in the show notes . Be gentle with yourselves . Travel with God . Vaya con Dios , thank you .