Thank you , welcome to Solace Soul Plus Grief . My name is Candee Lucas and I'm a grief chaplain . Since 2009, I've been accompanying all those who suffer loss or grief . Those who are mourning continue to mourn .
I believe that God accompanies us always and is interested in our spiritual health and well-being and will accompany us on this journey , that he is always available for healing , love and support . Please let me accompany you today and let us remind ourselves how God is there for healing . Please remember we are on this journey together .
I heard someone say to me once in a grief session I can't take any more loss . I thought about that sentiment . I thought long and hard about that sentiment , because we are always asked to regard our own resilience to things that happen in our life to take into consideration God's love , our love for the people that surround us , that see us through .
But sometimes , if we take time to notice , we notice that loss continues and sometimes they might be piled one upon the other .
I'm thinking of the fires in Los Angeles right now and the devastation this has brought to people's lives , and it's true every time we have a natural catastrophe that we take that moment to re-examine our choices , re-examine what is important to us in our lives , what brings meaning ?
Obviously , what brings meaning is family and home and relationships , and what that all means , and the fact that we wrap it up in a place that we call home gives us a shortcut to those feelings of belonging and love and warmth and growth and happiness and sorrow , holidays , birthdays , anniversaries , and just breakfast together or Sunday dinner , and so it reminds me
again that it is these small things , the small moments , that add up together to a life that we miss , and that when we are uprooted from those small moments , it can be so devastating and disorienting .
I remember in a fire , a wildfire we had here in California several years ago , that they had to bring in specially trained dogs to discover the human ashes that people had been keeping in their houses for a long period of time , or maybe a short period of time , while they decided what to do with them finally , or maybe they were keeping them there permanently ,
and somehow , miraculously , these specially trained dogs can identify human remains over the ashes of structures , and so people were able to regain something that they lost again .
It is the very nature of loss and the suffering that may surround that loss , that brings us to God , that brings us closer to God , that makes us , that reminds us how much we need him , how much we need the healing love that surrounds us , even when we don't know it's quite there .
And so I think of the fires in our heart , the fires on those hills , the wind that makes them unnatural , but all add up to this overwhelming loss . It makes one wonder about the presence of God , so many different times and spaces and losses . And the lesson of these is yes , God abides , faith abides , hope abides , love abides .
Isaiah tells us that when you pass through the waters , I will be with you , and through the rivers , they shall not overwhelm you . When you walk through fire , you shall not be burned and the flame shall not consume you . God speaks to us through the prophet Isaiah and continues --Fear not , for I have redeemed you . I have called you by name , you are mine .
And in Psalm 66 , verse 12 , we are reassured you let men ride over our heads . We went through fire and through water , yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance . -- Yes , it's very difficult to take that message away when we are in the throes of grief and loss and mourning .
Yet it is a reminder , albeit a harsh one it a harsh one that along with the suffering comes God's love and healing and that the healing and the love should have the emphasis , not the suffering . That concludes another episode . You can find this podcast on Apple , Spotify and Amazon .
Please do send your questions and your thoughts about grief and mourning and your struggles , both spiritual and practical , to my email address . In the show notes it's Candee Lucas . That's one word , small case , Candee , c-a-n-d-e-e-l-u-c-a-s . At soulplusgracecom , that's S-O-U-L-P-L-U-S-G-R-A-C-E dot com . I'll try to answer them in future episodes and be your on-call chaplain .
Be safe as you travel with God . Be gentle with yourselves . Vaya con Dios .