I was teaching a class of older teenagers at an Oklahoma youth camp named Falls Creek. In a class of about fifty, one person captured my attention without saying a word and I could not get her off my mind. She sat in the middle of the back row with ‘’deer in the headlights” eyes full of fear and pain. I never got a chance to speak to her after class, but I kept seeing her eyes in my mind. What kinds of fears were haunting her life? What threats did she face?
Read MoreToday is September 25. My wife of fifty-seven years died twelve years ago today. I think of her all the time of course but in September each year the memories flood my mind. These memories are usually not just about her death, they relive our life together and rejoice in the love we shared. Those thoughts reenforce three things I have found true about grief.
First: It never goes away, our loved ones live on in our memories. No one is dead until they are forgotten.
Second: Hopefully in time gratitude replaces some of the pain. We either become grateful for what we had, or we will remain a victim of what we have lost.
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