Grief’s Embrace

 

Someone has written

something new

in the ashes of your life.

You are not leaving.

Even as the light fades quickly now,

you are arriving.

David Whyte - The Journey

Every year I find myself

yearning the loss of summer

resisting the onset of autumn

I’m never ready

for shorter days

and colder nights

or for the darkness

that wraps itself around

curtailing outdoor activity to fewer hours.

Even though I appreciate the beauty of the woods

in all its many hues

and the carpet of fallen leaves

through which to crunch and look for conkers 

And the wind on the beach

where I can gulp clean, fresh air

even as it whips up the sand

and re-lays it in unfamiliar patterns

“Not yet,” I want to cry.

This year the passing of summer

is just one more loss

in a landscape of grief

with all it’s crevices and craters 

It’s taken me a while to realise that I was sitting with grief

For she comes to us in many guises.

Yet in the knowing

there comes a companionship

a forging of friendship

an intimacy

with the emotions she releases

with the knowledge she uncovers

with the wisdom she reveals.

Grief becomes for us 

a stepping off point

from which and in which

we are reconnected

with who we are

and with whose we are

We are strong enough to embrace

each new season with the gifts it brings

and the truths it reveals

Strong enough to let go of what has defined us

and, with gratitude,

embrace the freedom

to be changed for a new season

of love and fruitfulness

borne up by the unrelenting

love and persistence of God

who joins us to rake through the ashes of our life

sitting with us until we discover

that the new was there all along.

Together, we can do this.