HUG Corner: Thought for the Week 4/29/19

April 29, 2019

Healing After Loss (Martha Whitmore Hickman)

Often it is easiest to see the stars in the long, cold nights of winter. 

People who have come through any kind of life-threatening event – a crash, a tornado, a severe illness – speak of how it has changed their perspective. Likewise, when we suffer through the loss of a loved one, it’s easier to see what’s important.

Several years after our daughter died, we experienced a burglary. All of our wedding silver was stolen, as well as some antique pieces that had been handed down through many generations. 

Of course we were upset. But right away the words came to me: “It’s only things.” I have no way of knowing whether or not I’d have been this calm had the theft occurred before her death, but I suspect not.

The stars are not only clearer, but more beautiful. Ancient navigators found their way through the seas by looking at the stars. So maybe the experience of loss not only helps clarify what is important to us, but also helps us know where we are and the direction in which we want to go.

In the extremity of darkness I will look up and see the stars.

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