Help for the Grieving
Sometimes people ask me what words you can offer to those who are grieving. Our church and school community has suffered two great losses recently: a young teenager who died in an accident and a beloved teacher who died prematurely of cancer. I have lost a four year old son and a twenty year old younger brother. I know what it feels like to grieve deeply. But the truth is, I don't know what to say to grieving people. I can feel sad with them, write them a card with some meager words expressing sadness at their loss, bring a meal, etc., but I think the dilemma is that there really are no magic words. What grieving people need is empathy and for someone to "get" how they're feeling and that requires emotional effort on the part of the good friend. It's not figuring out the perfect thing to say, it's adopting a posture of love and respect that says, "I love you and I have no idea what you are going through, but I'm going to work hard to show up for you ...