SOLACE: Soul + Grief
This podcast is sponsored by SOULPLUSGRACE serving the San José area, offering grief support and grief journeying with spirituality. I hope to help you travel through grief with God at your side.
"I am a trained Spiritual Director for those who seek to complete the 19th Annotation of St. Igantius’ spiritual exercises OR seek spiritual direction while grieving. 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
CONTACT ME: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com with questions to be answered in future episodes.
SOLACE: Soul + Grief
Embracing New Beginnings Through Faith
What if letting go of the past isn't an act of betrayal but a step toward healing? Through the verses of Micah, we explore how grief can feel like the last leaf in a storm, and yet, there is comfort in embracing the memories that continue within us. Come into our circle of healing, where we pray for the strength to move beyond pain, comforted by the promise of new life and faith in God
Listen every Friday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music for spiritual direction, art, and workshops shared through Santa Clara University, https://events.scu.edu/markey-center/event/332001-spiritual-accompaniment
You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com.
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE FREE OF CHARGE
Art: https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas
Music and sound effects today by: via Pixabay/Hanami Zen Piano
Welcome. Welcome to Solace: , Plus Grief. We're glad you're here. My name is Candy Lucas. I'm a Jesuit-trained chaplain, spiritual director, creator of this podcast, as well as a workshop on spiritual accompaniment through Santa Clara University.
Candee:We all recognize that the loss of a loved one causes tremendous schisms in our life. We lose our boundaries, we lose our place, we lose our loved ones and we are lost without them. I created this podcast four years ago to address those concerns. I come to you with the voice of a broken heart, having lost my father, my employment, a dear pet and a relationship with my sister last year. Thanks for being with us. You're always welcome in our circle of healing, love and concern.
Candee:Often scripture tells us where we are in God's universe and what's happening to us. In Micah, in verse 7, it rings true to those of us in grief-- Woe is me. I am become like leavings of a fig harvest, like gleaming when the vintage is over. There is not a cluster to eat, not a ripe fig I could desire. The pious are vanished from the land, none upright are left among men--.
Candee:It proceeds to describe an angry God, a God who is angry with the many everyday sins of his people. But we beseech him later in the verse-- Yet I will look to the Lord, I will wait for the God who saves me. My God will hear us--. What does this have to tell us about our grief journey? It tells us that on any single day we may feel like that last leaf on the tree in the wind, in the middle of a storm, who refuses to let go Because it feels like that sometimes. It also tells us our God watches and he waits and he knows for certain that we will eventually turn to him. We will eventually abandon all other pathways healing-- the groups, the half-truths we tell ourselves. Until we let go of that branch and fly freely into God's embrace, we can never fully experience that healing.
Candee:But letting go, that letting go is so hard. It feels like if we let go, we are letting go of our loved one, that we are letting go of our memories, that we are somehow abandoning our love for them. That letting go feels like a betrayal of that love, that trust, that connection. But how do we truly move into healing, move into a true world of love and comfort and ease, knowing the love survives, knowing the love thrives, because we remember it, we treasure it and we continue to treat it like the precious jewel that it is. We do not let ourselves fall into despair. Although God will meet us there, we do not allow ourselves to dwell in a past that is painful and not full of love, because that past will not let us move forward in love. We can remember our loved ones with ease and grace in all their days of living and being with us on this planet, or we can share in their new life.
Candee:What we Christians believe in, their new life, of love and healing, traveling as far as it takes, taking as long as it takes to reach them, to reach the end of our journey and be remembered and be held gently in God's embrace along with them. So we pray today: Lord, healing God, lift up my heart, remember me in my loneliness, remember me as I cling, in the dark and the storm, to the leaf of what was, as a leaf to the branch that what was, and take away all my fear of staying in the past, of dwelling in the past, and allow me, in the dawn of your morning, Amen. That concludes another episode of Solace. Thank you for being here. Again. I'm your host, Candee Lucas. Tune in every Friday when a new episode drops. You can find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. More information about the books we've discussed: scripture, my artwork, spiritual direction and my workshops through Santa Clara University in the show notes. God bless, vaya con Dios, namaste,
