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
iPhone God
Grief presents itself in many forms, including the loss of control during difficult news. Explore how modern dependency on technology for answers differs from seeking spiritual guidance during times of uncertainty and fear.
• What might happen if we took our questions to God instead of Google?
• Spiritual answers may be different but more meaningful than information alone • Connection to divine love is universal and available to everyone
• Recognition that technology, while useful, cannot provide the living presence we truly seek
You can find us on Spotify, Amazon Music and Apple. You can contact me through my email in the show notes. A new episode drops every Friday.
For spiritual direction, art, and workshops shared through Santa Clara University, https://events.scu.edu/markey-center/event/344943-spiritual-accompaniment
You can reach us at: candeelucas@soulplusgrace.com.
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE
Art: https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
and https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucas
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6
Music and sound effects today by: via Pixabay
Thank you, welcome to Solace: Soul + Grief. My name is Candee Lucas and I'm a Jesuit trained grief chaplain and spiritual director. When we started this ministry we wanted to create a space for all those struggling with loss, whatever kind. The death of a loved one is an enormous physical, spiritual, emotional and psychological shift. I created this library of podcasts for those who are struggling with particular grief issues and for those who just wish gentle accompaniment. I'm glad you're here with me today. Remember you're always welcome in our circle of healing love and support, of healing love and support.
Candee:Recently I heard a story about a woman struggling with a difficult pregnancy. During a routine sonogram in her doctor's office, the technician suddenly went quiet and, of course, the woman was gripped with fear. The doctor came in and reviewed the sonogram and told her there might be some abnormalities, but they needed to do further tests, further tests --a phrase some of us have gotten used to, a phrase some of us dread, but that's not the interesting part about the story. The woman went on to describe how, if she'd only had her phone with her she would have G oogled immediately the words the doctor was saying and the reason she confessed she did this was because it would give her back the power over her situation.
Candee:Now, many of us greet bad news or difficult news with an urge to learn more, reassuring ourselves that more knowledge will make us able to make sharper, more effective decisions about whatever the issue may be. But this woman was quite clear that it was the power of the phone, the power of having that technology at her fingertips, that made her feel she could meet this situation, and later she came to understand that the power she had attached to that phone was something more mysterious. She talked how, when she learned this horrific and difficult news about her pregnancy, she had no belief in God or anything else-- I think those were the precise words she used. Yet because she had tracked her pregnancy on an app in the phone, she had suddenly given that phone much more power over her life and over her decisions. She talked about wanting to understand the depths and breadth and the possibilities for her unborn son.
Candee:But after a while, after browsing to the ends of the internet what the possibilities for her son were, she felt no more equipped to deal with the unknown than she had before, and I thought what if she had taken those same questions, those same doubts, the fears she had about the pregnancy, about the future of her child. What if she'd taken those questions to God instead of her phone? She probably wouldn't have found better answers, although some of us think she might have. She would definitely find different answers, things she might have. She would definitely find different answers. She would come to understand that that love and healing in the face of loss whether it be the loss of an idea of a perfect child, a perfect baby, or the loss of control over one's body, the possible death of her baby all of these would have been answered in a different way.
Candee:I don't know if you can know God in one day. Maybe you can-- I'm sure some people do in circumstances of extreme suffering and loss. But we don't need to know our whole God in one day. We need to know that we can reach out to Him in the moment and he will give us an answer. It may not be the answer that we want to hear, but it is an answer-- an answer given to those of us who love Him and those of us who are loved.
Candee:I believe everyone has access to this God and this love, not just Catholics, not just Christians or Buddhists or Zoroasters or Jewish people, but everyone. Our connectedness to one another reminds us of the power found in an electronic device, no matter how ubiquitous, no matter how clever it's only an object. It is not a living, breathing presence.
Candee:That concludes another episode. You can find us on Spotify, Amazon Music and Apple. You can contact me through my email in the show notes, a new episode drops every Friday. Take gentle care of yourselves. Travel with God. Vaya con Dios.
