Grief, Lament & Other Equally Fun Stuff
Summer is winding up for us here in Seattle (well, sorta- it’s supposed to be crazy hot next week. And by crazy hot, I mean 87°).
The boys go back to school next week and I’m starting to move a few of the writing projects — the ones that have been on hold for the past couple of months while they’ve been home — back up to the front burner.
Last night Jason and I were looking back over the Summer and ended up looking back over the past year. 2017 has been… well, kinda rough so far! Mostly, it seems, we’ve just been trying to keep afloat and keep abreast of the changes and feelings as they come, while still enjoying this wide open life we live.
A few months into 2017 we decided to take a break from Church. Stepping away from something that has been tightly bound and interwoven into all our years together (and, for me, all my years ever) is, we realized, something we have been grieving. And the struggle to explain our decision to friends and family who want to understand but do not has brought with it additional pain and a growing sense of loneliness.
In May I found out I have Multiple Sclerosis and three months later I still struggle to know how to write or even talk about how I feel about it.
In July I went to visit my family for a short visit and discovered that my dad, who has been slowly succumbing to Alzheimer’s Disease (early onset) for the past seven years now seems to be more significantly impaired, no longer able to drive or even play simple games with my kids.
Because of all of this, because I’m trying to sort out how I’m feeling and what is happening to me, around me, in me, I’ve been drawn to podcasts dealing with grief and lament and suffering. I’ve stumbled on a few really good ones and I thought I would share them here. If you are in a season of lament or grief, or have ever been in such a season, these were all so cathartic for me.
Grief, Loss & Joy with David Kessler
Rob Bell interviews David Kessler, who is an expert on grief, death and loss, which, admittedly, sounds like a terrible thing to be an expert on!
What to Say When You Don’t Know What to Say
h/t to my friend Michelle who posted this over on her blog a few weeks ago.
Learning to Lament
This one is a five-part series by Rob Bell and I highly recommend listening to all five. I powered through all of them while I was painting the boys’ bedroom a few weeks ago and I’m still ruminating on so much of what he said. Each episode is pretty short.
Happy Listening! If you do listen and any of them resonate, hit me up and we can talk shop!