This post on the gift of grief was first published eight years ago after the death of my stepfather. It remains relevant, especially as I deal with the loss of my mom this past July. Grief takes on many shapes and is different for each person based on the loss. In this post my mom […]
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Many of us have reason to cry out with the writer of Psalm 13-how long, Lord? How long do we have to wait? Must we suffer forever? How much longer until our trials are over? The writer of Psalm 13 wrestled with these questions. Psalm 13 The author asks four times in Psalm 13 – […]
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Chances are you are familiar with the stereotypical faces of Alzheimer’s – empty gaze, lack of recognition of friends and family, incontinence. But there are so many more faces of Alzheimer’s, each as unique as the person behind the face. Personal Experience with Alzheimer’s In my twelve years as chaplain at a retirement community, I […]
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We all experience sorrow and suffering in life. Many are suffering now because of losses brought on by COVID19—losses of loved ones, livelihood, way of life. Paul, in Second Corinthians 7:10-13, speaks of worldly sorrow and Godly sorrow. But what makes one sorrow Godly and the other worldly? How do you tell them apart? What […]
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Our psalm for last week of bargaining with God, gives way to depression this week with Psalm 80, the fourth stage of Kubler-Ross’ stages of dying. The Israelites are so sad that their daily bread is made up of tears, as well as their drinking water. “You have fed them with the bread of tears, […]
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Joy comes with the morning. This passage gave me comfort years ago when my position as chaplain was abruptly eliminated. One minute I was planning out the next month’s sermons, an hour later I was sitting in my car with twelve years of my life packed into the trunk and back seat. I had started […]
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I didn’t know a lot about Barbara Bush outside of being the wife of former president George H.W. Bush and mother of former president George W. Bush. I have this recollection of this grandmotherly figure wearing pearls in the white house. I appreciated her work in promoting literacy. But, perhaps her greatest role was one […]
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Easter – Season of New Life Highs and lows, speed up, slow down, sharp turns, throw-up. I’m not a fan of roller coaster rides. I’ve only been on a small one and that was enough. I don’t like being jerked around, spun up and down, high and low. It’s too much like life! I have […]
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We grieve because we have loved. It is a gift, one we don’t want, yet a gift nonetheless. Think of the alternative – to go through life without allowing ourselves to love others because of the pain involved when we lose them. Not an alternative many chose. My book, Walking with Families through Grief, helps you unwrap […]
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“The pain now is part of the happiness then, that’s the deal,” C.S. Lewis is credited with having said in regards to the loss of his wife, Joy Davidman. Grief is a part of every life. It lets us know that we have loved. The faces of grief are as varied as the different people […]
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