Workshop: 2013 Spring Week 2 - Tear Soup

Whether or not we are comfortable with crying as a way of expressing our sadness, tears become a part of our journey.  Depending on our own personal history, tears can mean so many different things and either become a way to heal, OR an obstacle as we struggle mightily not to cry or “give in” to our tears.  Ask yourself " what causes my tear soup to be ruined?"   Make some conscious decisions about how tears can play a role in your healing process.  

Consider rereading “The Healing Property of Tears” commentary you discussed in your small groups.   It is important to understand that anything that feels threatening or fearful to us can slow us down on our Grief Journey.  Make your own courageous decisions that will keep you on the path to healing. 

 

Workshop: 2013 Spring Week 1 - In The Right Place

Take some quiet time this week to consider what your expectations are around attending this Grief Support workshop. List three reasons why you decided to attend and write them on the back of the Introduction page in the packet you received last night. Then, take a moment to reflect on your emotions and feelings as you experienced the first session on Wednesday night. Write down your top three feelings as you left the workshop.

Suggestion: Locate a binder or folder to store your materials each week so that you can review the above at the end of our eight weeks together. You may be amazed!

Editor's Reflections on the Journey: There's No Place Like Home

When people share their fears about what they are going through in the grief process, a major theme is the very real fear that the way they feel today could somehow, possibly, be the way they will feel forever. No matter what day it is in their journey they wonder; how could they possibly live the rest of their life in black and white, when everyone else is seeing color?

 

One of the visual metaphors I like to use for this feeling is from the classic movie, "The Wizard of Oz".  Dorothy and Toto are spinning helplessly on her bed in the middle of the tornado. Debris is whirling around them. It is dark and black and they could possibly die.  Dorothy sees images of all of her loved ones flash before her eyes.  Then.... miraculously, the tornado moves on and the house and the bed come down to earth with a resounding thud.  Dorothy, ever so carefully,  cautiously, and fearfully, opens the door of her house and sees the glorious, bold, bright, and almost blinding color of Oz.  She has left the sepia tones of Kansas, the black and dark tones of the tornado, and she is suddenly bathed in beautiful sunlight and color.

Smithsonian Institution Display 

The grief journey is like that. Perhaps not so abrupt or sudden, but there will be a day when you look outside and notice again that the trees are a beautiful shade of green. You will feel the sun is warm and glowing and yellow, and that your life includes hope and joy again.  Slowly, surely, and persistently, you will notice color and hope, and you will be able to say, ”Wow, I think I’ve survived the tornado”.
 

But the change is not because of the Wizard, but because of the true healing of God. He wants YOU to live the rest of your life in bold and brilliant color, even though you have been through a tornado.

 

Dorothy says, “There’s no place like home”, and you will find that there is no place like the home ....of God.