I know and I speak from experience, that even in the midst of darkness, it is possible to create light and share warmth with one another. Even on the edge of the abyss, it is possible to dream exalted dreams of compassion; that it is possible to be free and strengthen...
How we learn to live with the death of a loved one differs with each one of us. We must all find a way to grieve. As the theologian, Tom Wright said, "Not to grieve, not to lament is to slam the door on the very same place in the innermost heart from which love itself...
What we don't need in the midst of struggle is shame for being human.
As I was lying on a gurney in pre-op awaiting knee replacement surgery three days before Christmas, before the “happy drugs” were administered, I noticed a painting on the wall beside the gurney. It was rather nondescript, a field of blue flowers in a garden of rocks...