“Talk to me about the truth of religion and I’ll listen gladly. Talk to me about the duty of religion and I’ll listen submissively. But don’t come talking to me about the consolations of religion or I shall suspect that you don’t understand.”
― C.S. Lewis
How—if at all—does your religion help you to grapple with grief?
When the going gets tough, the tough get cozy. Or at least the sensible do. A comfy blanket or a cozy bathrobe or a warm cup of tea won’t solve the world’s problems, but they help to get through the moment.
What small thing brings you comfort?
“It’s so curious: one can resist tears and ‘behave’ very well in the hardest hours of grief. But then someone makes you a friendly sign behind a window, or one notices that a flower that was in bud only yesterday has suddenly blossomed, or a letter slips from a drawer… and everything collapses.”
― Colette
What has surprised you into a powerful experience of grief?
Sometimes the best thing you can do for someone who is grieving is to pass you the tissues—to let them cry without trying to fix or even console them. Just to give them what they need to catch their tears.
How has someone helped you when you were grieving?
“We are imperfect mortal beings, aware of that mortality even as we push it away, failed by our very complication, so wired that when we mourn our losses we also mourn, for better or for worse, ourselves. as we were. as we are no longer. as we will one day not be at all.”
― Joan Didion
What pushes you to consider your own mortality?
