HUG Corner: Thought for the Week 5/20/19

Healing After Loss (Martha Whitmore Hickman)

“When we start at the center of ourselves, we discover something worthwhile extending toward the periphery of the circle. We find again some of the joy in the now, some of the peace in the here, some of the love in me and thee which go to make up the kingdom of heaven on earth.”

– G. F. Sear

Our thoughts are so much with the one who is gone. We brook about the person, remember times together, think about the meaning of death. Suppose, for a time, we lay all that aside and return to living in our own skin – breathing deeply, trying to get a sense of our own center.

Not only does this return us to ourselves, it helps us see more clearly the context in which we live. Yes, there are chunks of our lives that are lonely, bereaved. But if we look out on life from our own center, we see there are other aspects on which our sorrow doesn’t impinge as heavily. The air we breathe isn’t filtered through our sadness. The children playing in the field exude an authentic joy that can be catching.

This takes self-discipline. The temptation is always to be sucked back into grief, but it may help us to “try on” a view of the world in which grief is one part, but not all.

I have some control over how much I let sadness rule my life.