wednesday, July 16, 2025 Quote of the week

“Challenges are what makes life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.”

Joshua J. Marine

As a little girl, I had quite the imagination. Oftentimes, my sentences would begin with “let’s pretend” because living on a farm, my only playmates were roaming farm cats, the family dog, and various livestock that eventually were sold off to market. The back porch served as my Conestoga wagon, and the living room became my imaginary theater.

I remember listening to a vinyl LP featuring various Bible stories from the Old Testament. Pretending to be David, I hid behind the 1960s aqua-colored divan with my deadly weapon, which was a wooden spoon from the kitchen drawer. Mom didn’t allow hurling rocks through the house, but as Goliath approached and our confrontation imminent, I leaped out from behind the divan and struck down my enemy using imaginary rocks from my imaginary shepard's bag! (Insert evil laugh from a four-year-old.)

Doesn’t grief feel like a Goliath? Perhaps mourning should be renamed Goliathing. The colossal size of our loss looms over us just as the shadow of the Biblical ogre. However, Samuel exposes how David conquered such an unlikely victory through courage and action.

Perhaps Goliath represents the aftermath of our loss. The everyday mundane events can be riveting. The first time going to church, the grocery store, or even the park for a walk, can jostle our peace and understanding. Alone feels too big. It takes great courage to confront life after loss, but like David, he did what was scary and proceeded forward.

Faith also propelled David to believe in something he was not able to believe in himself. He trusted God would give him all he needed during his dual. Isaiah writes in 4:19 that “...I am doing a new thing:...I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Making our way through death's thicket takes as much work as finding water during our personal drought, but God will provide for us the means just as he did for David.

Trust God with your Goliath.

wednesday, July 9, 2025 Quote of the week

“What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.”

Helen Keller

Resting beside a perfectly still body of water is so tranquil. Without any disturbance, the water is nearly breathable as we inhale and yield to nature’s serenity. We recline into the moment, a moment that is simply made perfect. Perhaps the water’s placidity is a soothing balm reminding us of the memories we hold for the ones we’ve lost.

During the tumultuous storms of our grieving, the water is anything but soothing. With time and work, however, we can find our way back to all that was once good. We will look upon the photos with laughter and smiles, and we will continue to invite them into our everyday. Henry Scott Holland said that, “Death is nothing at all…I have only slipped away into the next room.” Let’s now stir up the water, make ripples, and eventually waves of memories. Tell stories, share experiences, and keep the pictures on the wall.

The novel, The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margo, was the inspiration for this entry. Not only was this a magnificent story of honest connection but also one of acceptance. It taught me that our loved ones need to be included in our traditions and our everyday conversation. Author, Marianne Cronin, reawakened Sarah Williams line from her poem, “Old Astronomer To His Pupil”, which reads:

“Though my soul may set in darkness,

it will rise in perfect light.

I have loved the stars too fondly

to be fearful of the night.”

Keep their light twinkling.

wednesday, July 2, 2025 Quote of the week

"Guilt is a totally useless emotion. It never makes anyone feel better, nor does it change a situation.”

Louise Hay

Our culture is wired to use technology. The immediate gratification takes care of our needs instantaneously. If only there was an app to “fix” our grief, something that would expedite the process with some magic formula. Unfortunately, that doesn’t exist. Although we can’t Google, “how to heal from the death of a loved one in five easy steps”, there are choices. We can either bury the grief, which will only sicken us, or we can deal with it.

To "fix" my grief, I decided to get my first tattoo. Using the script from the wedding vows Jim wrote to me and his signature from a Valentine card, I pieced together a phrase that would be forever imprinted on the inside of my left wrist. THAT, I thought, would fix my pain; I could gaze at, Just Breathe..Jim, and feel relief. Nope, that did not fix it. Yep, still sad and heartbroken, so I kept looking.

Sound baths have been used for thousands of years to promote relaxation and healing. THIS could fix me! Once I settled into the rhythm of the gongs and chimes, the vibrational energy within me was remarkable. I surrendered to the vulnerability and allowed the sound to carry me.

What my mind’s eye saw during the session was a violet-blue color, the color of my guilt, rising out from the entire right side of my body. It dragged out of me in pulsating currents, my body purging. Unbeknownst to me, I had been harboring guilt from Jim’s death. On an unconscious level, I had buried the guilt of not being able to revive him that morning, but it could no longer reside in me; it was time to let it go.

The psalmist, David, wrote in 139:16, “all the days ordained for me were written in your book, before one of them came to be.” We are not in control of when our time is to be born or our time to die. My experience supported scripture. All our days are numbered, so live them fully. We can't control our time, but we are responsible for what we do in between.

We don’t know what our future holds, but I trust the One who is holding it. Perhaps if we “fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen”, as 2 Corinthians 4:18 declares instead of trying to “fix” things ourselves, life after our loss would feel less ominous.

It's time...let it go.

If interested in sound therapy, I attached the link to Kandice Steitz's website, Vibrational Patterns, to learn more and to book a session.

https://www.vibrationalpatterns.com/

Storylight A transformational journey SHARON M WIBLE

wednesday, July 16, 2025 Quote of the week

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