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
Healing Words
This week’s podcast brings forth the gentle yet powerful theme of healing through words; as we engage in a heartfelt conversation and share insights and experiences, guiding us through the multifaceted nature of grief and the comfort that can be found within poetry and sacred texts.
- Explore the vital role of words in navigating grief
- Insights on the grieving process
- Highlights of poetic passages providing comfort and connection
Feel free to send any questions you might have about grieving to my email.
As you listen, consider sending me your thoughts and questions on grief, both spiritual and practical, so we can walk this path together.
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE FREE OF CHARGE
You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com to arrange personal spiritual direction and for questions and concerns.
Music and sound effects today by: via Pixabay
I welcome you to Solace: S oul + Grief. My name's Candee Lucas and I'm a grief chaplain. I accompany those who are grieving any kind of loss and I ask that you let me accompany you today. You're always welcome in this circle of healing, love and support. Remember, we are all on this journey together.
CANDEE:As we grieve, we oftentimes wait for that special word, a special moment, a special memory that will ease today's pain in our hearts. And so I find myself glancing through old books looking for a word of solace. I go back and forth again to various scriptures, be it Psalms or, most often, Jeremiah. These words bring me comfort. So today, I hope to offer some words of encouragement from some of my favorite authors.
CANDEE:Some you may have heard of, some you may not. The first is Meister Eckhart-- It is your destiny to see as God sees, to know as God knows, to feel as God feels. How is this possible? How? Because divine love cannot defy its very self. Divine love will be eternally true to its own being, and its being is giving all it can at the perfect moment. And the greatest gift that God can give is his own experience. Every object, every creature, every man, woman and child has a soul, and it is the destiny of all to see as God sees, to know as God knows, to feel as God feels, to be as God is.--
CANDEE:This one is from St John of the Cross. --I was sad one day and went for a walk. I sat in a field. A rabbit noticed my condition and came near. It often does not take more than that to help at times, to just be close to creatures who are so full of knowing, so full of love, that they don't chat, they just gaze with their marvelous understanding--. This is from an Indian mystic named Lala. --Life is given, nothing is earned. So learn to serve others, not your own desire and greed and ego. They steal your energies, whereas devotion builds your strength and protects the intelligent flame that leads to the truth
CANDEE:within--. Another from John of the Cross-- the weight of arrogance is such that no bird can fly carrying it, and the man who feels superior to others, that man cannot dance the real dance when the soul takes God into its arms and you both fall onto your knees in gratitude. A blessed gratitude for life, a blessed gratitude for life--.
CANDEE:These next words are from an anonymous Navajo. --I ask all blessings. I ask them with reverence of my Mother Earth, of the sky, moon and sun, my Father, I am old age, the essence of life. I am the source of all happiness. All is peace, all in beauty, all in harmony, all in joy--. These words are from the Persian poet Hafiz.
CANDEE:--Children can easily open the drawer that lets the spirit rise up and wear its favorite costume of mirth and laughter. When the mind is consumed with remembrance of him, something divine happens to the heart that shapes the hand and tongue and eye into the word love--. These next words are from the Queen of Sheba in Ethiopia. --Wisdom is sweeter than honey. Brings more joy than wine. Illumine more than the sun, is more precious than jewels. She causes the ears to hear and the heart to comprehend. I love her like a mother and she embraces me as her own child. I will follow her footprints and she will not cast me away--. These words are from the Persian poet Rumi. --To place you in my heart may turn you into thought. I will not do that. To hold you with my eyes may turn you into thorn, I will not do that. I will set you on my breath, so you will become my life--.
CANDEE:More words from the Persian poet Hafiz. --When the words stop and you can endure the silence that reveals your heart's pain of emptiness, or that great, wrenching, sweet longing, that is the time to try and listen to what the beloved's eyes most want to say--. These next words are from an Inuit poet called Uvavnuk. ---The great sea has set me in motion, set me adrift, moving like a weed in a river. The sky and the strong wind have moved the spirit inside me till I am carried away, trembling with joy--.
CANDEE:These words are from St Catherine of Siena --we know nothing until we know everything. I have no object to defend, for all is of equal value to me. I cannot lose anything in this place of abundance. If something my heart cherishes is taken away, I just say Lord, what happened? And a hundred more appear--. From St Francis of Assisi. --Our hands imbibe like roots, so I place them on what is beautiful in this world, I fold them in prayer and they draw from the heavens light --. From the Persian poet Rabia.
CANDEE:--I know how it will be when I die. My beauty will be so extraordinary that God will worship me. He will not worship me from distance, for our minds will have wed, our souls will have flowed into each other. How to say this? God and I will forever cherish myself--. Words from Dante. --The love of God, unutterable and perfect, flows into a pure soul. The way the light rushes into a transparent object, the more love that it finds, the more it opens itself. So that as we grow clear and open, the more complete the joy of heaven is. And the more souls who resonate together, the greater the intensity of their love. And, mirror-like, each soul reflects the other--.
CANDEE:What I like about these poems and verses is that they continue to reflect God's surrounding, enveloping love for us. In times of trial especially, he is available to us. So I would hope you would take some of these words, the ones that appeal to you, the ones who sound like jewels in your heart, repeat them, write them down, meditate upon them, breathe with them.
CANDEE:That concludes this week's episode. You can find us on Apple, Spotify or Amazon. Feel free to send any questions you might have about grieving to my email i n the show notes. I'll try to answer any questions you have in the future. Remember I'm always available for spiritual direction by Zoom to those who are grieving. Please reach out to me if you have this need. Be safe. Travel with God, always at your side. Vaya con Dios.
