Grief is the response to loss, particularly to the loss of someone or some living thing that has died, to which a bond or affection was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, grief also has physical, cognitive, behavioral, social, cultural, spiritual and philosophical dimensions.
We’re honored to learn from Dr. Terri Daniel about her academic work on toxic theology as a contributing factor in complicated mourning and work as an interfaith chaplain.
You can get this episode on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or YouTube. You can also download or listen to the full podcast episode here.
We’re honored to learn from Valerie Brown about ways to cultivate hope, compassion, and mindfulness amid seasons of grief and loss. It’s the topic of her book “Hope Leans Forward: Braving Your Way Toward Simplicity, Awakening & Peace.”
Valerie Brown is a Buddhist-Quaker Dharma teacher, facilitator, and executive coach. A former lawyer and lobbyist, she is co-director of Georgetown’s Institute for Transformational Leadership as well as founder and chief mindfulness officer of Lead Smart Coaching.
In this week’s podcast, we’re honored to learn from Amanda Held Opelt about her latest book: “A Hole in the World: Finding Hope in Rituals of Grief and Healing.” It’s a beautifully written book that explores ways to find faith and hope amid seasons of grief and suffering. It’s one of those books that I’ll be re-reading during difficult times to remind me of the hope we have in Christ (even when I’m feeling faithless).
You can get this episode on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or YouTube. You can also download or listen to the full podcast episode here.
In this episode, Amanda talks with us about:
• On becoming a social worker and chaplain
• Helping others overcome grief, trauma and loss
• How to support a grieving friend (and what not to say)
• Listening more, saying less (and creating safe spaces)
• How faith can help you through seasons of suffering
• What the Bible tells us about grief and suffering
• Engaging with God in the midst of trauma or crisis of faith
• Spiritual rituals to connect with God
• What to do when a grieving friends doesn’t want to open up to you
• Helping grieving people who don’t ask for help
• On writing “A Hole in the World” about grief rituals around the world
• Helpful books for dealing with grief and bereavement
• The Christian concept of hope and the afterlife
• Finding meaning and hope in Ecclesiastes
Amanda Held Opelt is an author, speaker, and songwriter. She writes about faith, grief, and creativity, and believes in the power of community, ritual, worship and shared stories to heal even our deepest wounds. Amanda has spent the last 15 years as a social worker and humanitarian aid worker. She lives in the mountains of Boone, North Carolina with her husband and young two daughters.
It’s been a tragic and painful year for many of us.
We’re watching a suffering world in the midst of a global pandemic, while also seeing the increased visibility of violence, discrimination and hate towards Black, Indigenous and people of color.
And, most recently, we’ve been witnessing increased violence toward our Asian communities, which has disproportionately hurt Asian women and elders.
It’s a troubling and sad reminder of the many systemic sins in our society, and that we (the Christian church) have a responsibility to be actively involved in the healing process.
As a quick reminder, we discussed ways for Christians to get involved in racial justice and care for our Asian American communities with Dr. Russell Jeung, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, in episode 21.
In the midst of all the pain and tragedy around us, it can be very difficult to pray.
Sadly, it’s much easier for me to get angry and resentful, rather than moved to silence before God. It’s a sinful struggle for me, which results in prolonging my own pain and sadness.
So how do we pray when in pain?
Well, I have found much-needed spiritual insights on how to pray during dark and difficult seasons from the writings of Reverend Tish Harrison Warren.
Reverend Warren is the author of the book entitled “Prayer in the Night: For Those Who Work or Watch or Weep” — and she addresses ways to pray when we’re grieving, lamenting or angry at God.
It’s a helpful and honest book on ways to navigate our darkest seasons. Those times when we doubt. Those times when we feel uncared for by God. Those times when we’re angry, overwhelmed with grief, and possibly even feeling hopeless.
Tish Harrison Warren teaches us how to pray through sharing her personal stories of deep pain and traumatic experiences. She honestly discusses her personal feelings during these periods, along with the struggle of needing to be a priest, comforter and spiritual director for others. This book is an inside look at how a spiritual leader copes with pain and trauma, and filled with practical insights to help guide us during our own dark seasons.
Our faith in God can crumble during times of tragic pain and illness.
It’s not just the physical pain that devastates us, it’s the feeling of being dismissed by the God who is supposed to care and protect us.
The Bible verses we’ve memorized, creeds we’ve believed, and catechisms we’ve recited don’t seem to make much sense during these darkest hours. Sadly, the Bible passages promising comfort, peace and healing can just incite more spiritual pain, disbelief and grief.
It’s still difficult for me to recite the Lord’s Prayer because the phrase “thy will be done” unsettles me. It’s easy to say those words when life is easy, but when life becomes tragic and painful, that phrase causes me to repel God. The Lord’s Prayer leads me silence as I’m still trying to process my theology along with the trauma.
During these dark seasons, the only scriptures that resonate with me are the cries of lament, especially the Psalmists who display their anger at God and wonder why they feel deserted by their covenantal God.
Spirituality & Social Justice
