Yes, when they die, we grieve them. But we're not done grieving. At the next birthday arty or anniversary or Christmas dinner or Passover seder, we grieve the empty chair, and we grieve all over again.
Most of us are afraid of death: we don't want to talk about it or hear about it. And especially, we do not ever want to touch a dead body and prepare it for burial.
Okay, my friends, this week we are going to talk about suicide.
Married family, having problems, he is a drug addict. He OD's, either on purpose or accidentally, and dies. On his living room couch. The body was found by the children.
So Papa dies, the funeral home comes and picks him up from the hospital/hospice, and you don't see him again until (maybe) right before the funeral. Or, you pay a cosmetologist to make him up so he looks like he's not....
So far, we have been talking about the loss of a loved-one. But what about the loss of a "less-than-loved-one?" Someone who used to share our lives, our kids, our friends?
Divorce can be an awful experience. It can shatter lives.
I am Rabbi Mel Glazer, and this is my first show. I am delighted to be your host. I will introduce myself and you will get to know me a bit better. Then I will begin to teach what I know about grief and healing.
Until I met my guest, Rev. Dr. Ahriana Platten nine years ago, I had no idea what Unity was all about. We have been close friends ever since, and I invited her to explain their unique theology to us.
59 min
About From Mourning to Morning
From the publisher's feed
Rabbi Mel Glazer dedicates his life to helping people face loss, because he himself has faced loss. His father died the day before his twelfth birthday. Yet he has moved beyond the emotional pain…
which accompanies loss. So can you. Drawn to a life of service to others, he became a Rabbi, a Doctor of Ministry, and then a Grief Authority so he could help others find a better way to heal from their losses. His two award-winning books have helped thousands of grievers find direction in their response to loss. Whether we are of any faith, or of no faith at all, losing loved ones inspires some of the deepest spiritual questions we will ever face in our lives. What meaning can we find in our losses? Where do we begin? Rabbi Mel connects his life as a leader of his community with his life as a supporter and comforter of other mourners. From this unique position, he has a great deal to teach us about facing loss. Rabbi Mel makes it possible for us to go “from mourning to morning.”