SOLACE: Soul + Grief
This podcast is sponsored by SOULPLUSGRACE serving the San José area, offering grief support and grief journeying with spirituality. We hope to help you travel through grief with God at your side. Candee Lucas, your host, is a Jesuit-trained-and-inspired spiritual companion to the dying and their families, friends and caretakers.
"I am a trained Spiritual Director for those who seek to complete the 19th Annotation of St. Igantius’ spiritual exercises. I have also worked as a hospital/cemetery chaplain and grief doula. I believe all paths lead to God and that all traditions are due respect and honour. I take my sacred inspiration from all of my patients and companions–past, present and future; the Dalai Lama, James Tissot, St. John of the Cross, the Buddha, Saint Teresa of Ávila, and, of course, Íñigo who became known as St. Ignatius. I utilize art, poetry, music, aromatherapy, yoga, lectio divina, prayer and meditation in my self-work and work with others. I believe in creating a sacred space for listening; even in the most incongruous of surroundings."
BACKGROUND
Jesuit Retreat Center, Los Altos, CA -- Pierre Favre Program, 3 year training to give the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius/Centro de Espiritualidad de Loyola, Spain -- The Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola -- 30 Day Silent Retreat/Center for Loss & Life Transition – Comprehensive Bereavement Skills Training (30 hrs) Ft. Collins, CO/California State University Institute for Palliative Care--Palliative Care Chaplaincy Specialty Cert. (90 hrs)/Sequoia Hospital, Redwood City, CA -- Clinical Pastoral Education/19th Annotation with Fumiaki Tosu, San Jose, CA, Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius/Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA M.A. – Pastoral Ministries
SOLACE: Soul + Grief
Finding Light in Grief's Darkness
What if the intense pain of grief could morph into a journey of healing and self-discovery? Delve into how grief affects our senses and perceptions, distorting our view of time and reality. By keeping a journal, we can track our emotional progress and hold on to cherished memories. Reflecting on the profound wisdom of Khalil Gibran, we uncover how embracing the fullness of life can reveal the mysteries of death.
The early days of grief can feel overwhelmingly painful, creating a paradox where moving away from the pain seems like moving away from our loved ones. However, there's comfort in believing that our loved ones, now closer to God, remain with us in their essence, goodness, and love.
Be sure to subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, or follow us on the Facebook pages of Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Los Altos, California, or Calvary Cemetery in San Jose, California.
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE FREE OF CHARGE
You can reach us at: ccoutreach@dsj.org
To arrange personal spiritual direction: 408-359-5542
Our theme music is: Gentle Breeze by Yeti Music from the album "Uppbeat".
Additional Music and sound effects today by: via Pixabay
Thank you, welcome to this week's episode of Solace, soul Plus Grief. I'm Candy Lucas. We're glad you're here. This podcast is sponsored by Catholic Cemeteries and the Diocese of San Jose. The death of a loved one is a very difficult life transition and we hope we can answer some of your questions, help you find where God is moving in your life as you continue your grief journey, and remind you of the power of your faith and love for God. You're always welcome in our circle of healing, love and care.
Speaker 1:When we are grieving, we oftentimes experience the tunnel vision of our grief. It colors the world around us, affects the way our food tastes, the way the air feels, the manner in which we hear and understand people around us. It colors our present and may distort our pasts and futures as time goes on. In our grief journey, we don't often stop and take stock of where we are now compared to where we were when the death occurred and we had fresh grief, fresh sadness, fresh loss, fresh emotions. This is one of the reasons I encourage people to keep a journal during this time, because it will serve to preserve memories that are important and it's also a helpful way to gauge progress on your journey. You can find your new growth here. You can note how your relationship with your loved one changes, how your relationship with God changes and how your relationship with God changes and how your relationship with yourself changes.
Speaker 1:And so today, for our reflection, we turn to Khalil Gibran and the Prophet and we start at the point of death. And he said you would know the secret of death, but how shall you find it? Unless you seek it in the heart of life. The owl, whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day, cannot unveil the mystery of light. If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life, for death and life are one, even as the river and the sea are one. In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond. And, like seeds dreaming beneath the snow, your heart dreams of spring. Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity. Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honor. Is the shepherd not joyful, beneath his trembling, that he shall wear the mark of the king? Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling? For what is it to die, but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun? And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered? And only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing, and when you have from the river of silence shall you indeed sing. And when you have reached the mountaintop, then you shall begin to climb. And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.
Speaker 1:Those early days may seem unbearable. We hardly know. We're in them. Many of us are moving through them, rather rotely, performing necessary tasks, trying to sleep, trying to escape from the pain, if only for a few hours. That pain is so fresh, it is bracing. It becomes our new underpinning, it becomes our new marker, a new place to recover from and revisit, because somehow, moving away from the pain feels like we are moving away from our loved one, and that we cannot do because they have moved away from us. They have moved away from us in our temporal lives, but they have moved toward God, and so it makes sense that we can find them there, their essence, their goodness, the power and energy of their love, love created on earth in the arms of God, because that is where they are resting currently.
Speaker 1:That concludes another episode of Solace. A new one drops every Friday. Please subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, spotify, amazon or find us on Google. I'm Candy Lucas, your host, aftercare Coordinator, chaplain and Spiritual Director at Catholic Cemeteries at Gate of Heaven in Los Altos, california. Gate of Heaven in Los Altos, california. Please contact us if you have questions or seek spiritual direction. Our contact information is in the show notes. Be gentle with yourselves. Travel with God. Vaya con Dios, thank you.
