on grief | a collection of work

Click any of the images below for past reflections on grief and trauma, loss and losing, and the kind of mix of hopelessness and hopefulness that always accompanies both. Here, again, is a favorite quote on grief:

“Real criticism begins in the capacity to grieve because that is the most visceral announcement that things are not right. Only in the empire are we pressed and urged and invited to pretend that things are all right – either in the dean’s office or in our marriage or in the hospital room. And as long as the empire can keep the pretense alive that things are all right, there will be no real grieving and no serious criticism.”

+ Walter Brueggeman, The Prophetic Imagination

7 thoughts on “on grief | a collection of work”

Olivia Abernathy says:

March 14, 2012 at 10:14 am

I love your writings, Donald.

Most Hopeful says:

March 14, 2012 at 10:19 am

Thanks, Olivia. They help me process what I’m seeing and doing as a social worker who is a Christian…I’m learning big things from my clients and communities––as we always do.

Reply

Pam McCoy says:

March 14, 2012 at 1:50 pm

Very timely Donald. As I shared with my friend Tresa Hall Whitehead and Rayna Bomar, too many young ones going before their time. It’s not the natural order of life. And thank you so much for your words on grief. Grief is probably the most personal, intimate emotion we experience. To me, it’s as intimate and personal as our personal relationship with Christ. And sudden loss, especially that of a child, has got to be the worst that I can imagine. Time does not heal those wounds. It may get more manageable but the hole left in the heart is never healed this side of Heaven. Prayers continue to go out for those grieving the loss of their child. Remembering the Kirks especially now. But remember all those who have lost their child.