Grief's Desert: Finding God in Lent

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Grief and the Lenten season share profound similarities, inviting us to see Jesus as a companion in our desolation. We explore how Christ's 40-day retreat in the desert mirrors our grief journey—both experiences bringing us face-to-face with limitation, aloneness, and the search for meaning.

• The desolation of grief parallels Jesus' desert experience during Lent
• Jesus contemplated his limited time on earth, just as grief forces us to face mortality
• Ecclesiastes reminds us of God's constant presence
• Approaching grief as a shared journey rather than a solitary experience

As you listen, consider sending me your thoughts and questions on grief, both spiritual and practical, so we can walk this path together.

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Episode Transcript

Candee (00:16):
Thank you for watching.
Welcome to this week's episodeof Solace, soul Plus Grief.

(00:36):
I'm Candee Lucas.
We're glad you're here.
The death of a loved one is avery difficult life transition
and we hope we can answer someof your questions, help you find
where God is moving in yourlife as you continue your grief
journey, and remind you of thepower of your faith and love for

(00:58):
God.
You're always welcome in ourcircle of healing, love and care
.

(01:24):
As we enter the Lenten season, Iam reminded that as we
contemplate this period ofJesus' life in the desert, it
calls to mind the desolation ofour grief.
It calls to mind the desolationof our grief, and so I offer

(01:55):
this prayer Jesus, we are broken, so many of us, just broken by
life.
We seemed we thought we knewwhat was best, what would make
our life okay.
Invariably it didn't.

(02:20):
We reached out to each otherbut were met with fear and
indifference that waspractically institutional in
scope.
Why?
Why, jesus?
We need you Every day and everynight.
We so need you.
We need your arms around us24-7.

(02:44):
We need you that much.
We cannot take a step withoutyou, a breath without you.
Hold us up.
We need you to do that for usWhile you are holding us up.

(03:06):
Who is holding you?
Who?
We followed you into the desertbecause you asked us to what we
saw and witnessed there.
We cannot say now we went forburnishment there.
We cannot say now we went forburnishment.

(03:27):
We came back with the retinasof our eyes burned out and
shadowed into their reversecolors and shapes, blinded to
the love and the need around us.
And how equal they are twosides of one coin that you

(03:49):
cannot see through but isinvisible.
That is how your love is solid,so solid.
Yet when I hold it in my handit disappears like a dandelion
angel in a very pale breeze.

(04:11):
Love us, we need you too.
Amen.
The experience of grief duringLent can be a profound one.
The church itself is on a40-day retreat, as it were,

(04:43):
examining its conscience, itschoices, its relationship with
God.
It is a retreat along with ourdaily lives, and I should find

(05:06):
it all that much harder togrieve during this period, but
we should remember that it isduring this period.
But we should remember that itis during this period that Jesus
contemplates his place on earth, his mission, his goals, his

(05:35):
own dreams and the realizationthat his life on earth is
limited.
He is probably experiencingwhat Buddhists call the bardo,

(05:58):
which is an in-between place,something between life and death
, something between now and then, something between hope and
desperation.
He comes face to face with hisaloneness, the solitary path

(06:29):
that he must walk.
Experiences the love of hisfathers for him, yet knows the

(06:52):
path will be a difficult one.
Ecclesiastes reminds us of theconstancy of God's love.
One generation goes, anothercomes, but the earth remains the

(07:15):
same forever.
The sun rises, the sun sets andglides back to where it rises,
southward blowing, turningnorthward, ever turning, blows
the wind On its rounds.
The wind returns.
All streams flow into the sea,yet the sea is never full To the

(07:40):
place from which they flow.
The streams flow back again.
No man can ever state them.
The eye never has enough ofseeing, nor the ear enough of
hearing.
Only that shall happen, whichhas happened, only that occur,

(08:07):
which has occurred.
There is nothing new beneaththe sun.
So, while we may feel farremoved from God's love, it is

(08:27):
there, if we stop, if we arestill, if we listen with our
heart, if we breathe with him.
So, as you accompany Jesus intothe desert, strive to be his

(08:50):
constant companion, as hestrives to be your constant
companion.
Let your grief wash over thetwo of you.
Let him help you carry thatburden as you help him carry his

(09:13):
.
Revere the mutuality of thisjourney, and may you come out
the other side burnished.

(09:39):
That concludes another episodeof Solace.
A new one drops every Friday.
Please subscribe to us on ApplePodcasts, Spotify or Amazon.
I'm Candee Lucas, your host,chaplain and spiritual director.
Please contact us If you havequestions or seek spiritual

(10:03):
direction.
Our contact information is inthe show notes.
Be gentle with yourselves.
Travel with God.
Vaya con Dios.