In grief, words fail us. Often. They can fail us when you are the one grieving, as the intensity of grief is both so unique AND like nothing else you may have experienced. And, so many struggle to know “what to say” when we are showing up for someone going through it (more on this topic in future posts).
If we could all just start from the baseline that sometimes there just aren’t proper words—words to describe what we are going through and words to offer when we see so much pain and suffering. And that’s ok and maddening all at once.
Here is one of my favorite passages that keeps me centered as I show up amidst immense pain:
“When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.”
--Henri J.M. Nouwen
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Welcome to my #100dayproject. I am providing a daily offering on #grief, in honor of each person who has trusted me with their story and wisdom during their #griefjourney. I hope that others may benefit from simple and straightforward talk about a topic that can be difficult. Thanks for following and/or sharing.