What We Are All Feeling: Grief

We have all lost something in the last few weeks (months, depending on where you live). For some, it may be the loss of a loved one, tragic; loss of a job, gut-wrenching; loss of community, sad; loss of home; lonely.  

We all have lost something.

As the first wave of economic issues jolted the health crisis, another reality became apparent. Stress, loneliness, and depression are rising and continue to grow everywhere. In many countries, mental health challenges are the third front in this battle; if health and wealth were the first two.  

Why? Well, if we are honest; and that isn’t a given, we feel sad. Some of us feel numb. Still, others are overcome with fear. The reason for these feelings is that we have lost something. 

In Canada, we have lost our way of life to some degree or another. We have been cut off from our everyday environments where personal interactions took place.  This is a significant loss. Though I am NOT a psychologist, my undergraduate studies in psychology lead me to believe that without a change in approach we will not weather this storm well mentally  Without allowing ourselves to feel grief over the losses we are experiencing; and processing them, it is difficult to imagine how we move forward without significant lowered-mood, depression, anxiety, or worse.

This is no longer a ‘tough it out scenario’ which will be over soon. The way we work in ministry will not be as it once was. The world has changed, the western world has changed, North America has suffered loss on both the health, economic, and sociological fronts. Canada certainly has experienced those, as has my community, family and me.  

As difficult as our lives are now, there is hope provided in Scripture.  Walter Elwell describes grief from a biblical point of view as feelings of loss due to bereavement, mishaps, or disasters. In all cases, feeling grief because of those situations is biblical, and some (like myself) would argue necessary. Some times, as Christians, we wrongly believe we shouldn’t grieve, be sad, or quiet after a loss because it takes away from the ‘joy’ selling point of Christianity.  That is wrong. Scripture says for the joy set before Him Christ endured the cross (Hebrews 12). We must endure, thereby making it to the other side of grief and pain.

Like Jesus.

That can’t be done living in denial of the reality of loss.    

The Bible provides a theology for grief. It is a part of life as a human being. It was experienced in different ways through the old testament, and then in the new testament by Jesus Christ: 

Jesus wept - for Jerusalem and for Lazarus (John 11:33-35).

He wept for Jerusalem (Luke 19; Matthew 23)  

Grieved and angered by the Pharisees (Mark 3)

Not to mention the grief he felt during His final days before the cross.   

Jesus demonstrated that grief is not meant to be avoided. He felt it; we must feel it also. We must work through the cycle of grief to find some meaning in the unimaginably difficult situations we face.   

If we endure through grief it will give rise to a new beginning.

The Bible provides a foundation from which to lead others in this area.  The work of scholars is also critical for creating best practices. The below article from Harvard Business Review is helpful when it comes to digging into our current situation and grief, and the importance of finding meaning in it.  Undoubtedly it will provide you with a framework for what you’re feeling and what those around you, and the people you lead are feeling.  

Click on the image below to read the article.