Grieving and Patience
Practicing Patience With Ourselves
Reflection By Scott Stoner
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul.
- Psalm 23:1-3 (KJV)
It has been said that grief is the uninvited guest at every holiday gathering. The holidays always bring with it many emotions, and for many, the experience of grief is the one that catches us the most off-guard. It may be that this will be our first Christmas without a loved one being present, either because they have passed away, are away this year, or for some other reason. The holidays are markers of the passage of time and thus can bring with it its own unique blend of losses and change.
To be accepting and compassionate with ourselves through any grief we are experiencing requires us to be patient with ourselves and the process of grieving. If we were not raised to be comfortable with feeling or expressing sadness, this could be especially challenging. The paradox is that repressing our grief takes a great deal of psychological energy, and often we are more exhausted when we try not to feel our grief. On the other hand, patiently making room for grief and inviting it into our consciousness will help us from getting stuck in it, or allowing it to define our whole experience of the holidays. And, as Christians, our faith promises us that love has the power to heal our grieving hearts.
Making It Personal: Are you experiencing any sense of grief or loss this holiday season? If so, are you able to be patient with yourself and acknowledge to yourself and others what you are feeling? Can you think of someone with whom you could share any grief or loss you are experiencing?
TO JOIN OUR PRIVATE FACEBOOK DISCUSSION GROUP FOR ADVENT, CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW:
Follow along with us this Advent season with our daily devotional and engage in discussion in our closed facebook group moderated by Robbin Brent, Carolyn Karl, Jan Kwiatowski, and Scott Stoner.
In this group, participants will have a chance to share their responses to the prompts in the daily readings, and also the chance to receive additional material for reflection.