Let The Church Grieve: Creating Safe Spaces For Communal Grieving

Life has so many seemingly wonderful things that make it easy to forget that death is soon to come. It would be good, however, to look at death as a healthy wake-up call to the reality that will eventually affect every human life.Death for many people is traumatizing, and a “traumatic suffering [which] turns off feelings, depletes the body, and deadens the spirit. A state of shock automatically locks up the mind and emotion, knowing and affect.” Death is considered a gloomy subject, let alone having to deal with the actual experience of a loved one who has died or is dying. “Death is personified, creeping through windows, entering the palaces, indiscriminately leaving a mark on young, old, male and female, rich and poor.” The death of a loved one is one of the most severe stressors imaginable. When someone loses a loved one, they inevitably experience the emotions of grief. Read more