Hope Heals Us Through Our Grief…
I spoke today at the Celebration of Life Service for Sabina. You may recall… I love this woman and her family. Why? Because, like you, they have chosen me for their health care, and poured into my teaching, and reached out to me when things went bad, and worked through everything they could in an attempt to get well… and it didn’t happen.
If you end up going through a struggle like this, and we work together, no matter the outcome, I will love you more. Why? Because we cannot help but feel more care for those whom we grieve over.
I was honored by being asked to speak. I was the first eulogy speaker, which was great for me… why? Because I don’t prepare for a public speaking event, I get some ideas in my head, then I just roll with it…. and if other people went before me… well, what if they said what I wanted to say!?!? So this was great.
I happily shared my experience with Sabina, discussing her energy, and joy… her commitment to the pursuit of truth, and her effort at being honoring to God through all of her decisions. So much of that. I really have to say that she was so admirable through her last days. A young 40’s mother of three, dying from cancer. And when she passed, even in that time, she was giving Glory to God, and reaching us in an incredible way.
So back to my story… I was sharing stories of her, and giving great joyful descriptions of her character, and then it hit. That moment of loss. I started crying, lost it so to speak, and coughed out my last few words. It was several speakers later, when John from Buckhead Church got up to close with a message. A great message of hope.
He asked great questions, that were almost silly.
How do we have hope through grief… it seems ridiculous when you really dig in and think about it. But the thing that was so great in this discussion, were these statements…
“Hope doesn’t eliminate grief, it accompanies grief. And by doing so, Hope heals us through our grief”
Not a means of an end to grief, not a stopping point for grief, but rather the understanding that grief is ok, and that by accepting our grief, and being open to it, we will find more hope.
I don’t have much to write. This is it… we have all gone through moments of grief. I truly believe that our grief not only shapes us for the better, but it also makes us more hopeful… if we let it. Blessings to you all!
Be well and Be blessed! – Dr. E