16 September 2011

My grief...

The only words that can draw out pain are words like: Agony of my grief, anguish of my heart, burden of my pain, storm-swept barrenness of loss............this came to me when I read Howard Thurman’s meditation from ‘Meditations of the Heart.’  He puts it so beautifully - -

"I share with you the agony of  your grief,
The anguish of your heart finds echo in my own.
I know I cannot enter all you feel
Nor bear with you the burden of your pain;
I can but offer what my love does give:
The strength of caring,
The warmth of one who seeks to understand
The silent storm-swept barrenness of so great a loss.
This I do in quiet ways,
That on your lonely path
You may not walk alone."

When someone walks with you in this way, understanding your grieving, you know that you are in a safe harbour, and coming to terms becomes easier...

And again...

"A bereaved person, no matter what his or her age, needs safe places, safe people, and safe situations."
 - H. Norman Wright

How difficult it is to explain to someone that this is actually the only thing that helps...