Is Everyone Celebrating the Holiday Season?

"The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18   

At least once a year, my church conducts a small group entitled GriefShare. GriefShare is a 13-week small group where people dealing with grief come together for support, encouragement, guidance, and more. It is truly a time of healing, forgiveness, and restoration. Every year, this small group takes place throughout the holiday seasons of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year. Our meeting time is intentional and necessary because we understand that the holiday season is a tough time of year for so many people. In fact, my decision to host GriefShare at LifePoint was born out of my own grief. Even though I am truly blessed and have since remarried, my deceased wife's death was, without question, the most complex challenge of my life, and my first holiday season without her only deepened my grief and made everything worse. Approximately three years later, I facilitated my first GriefShare small group, and I've been leading one each year since. 

Why do I bring up grief at this time of the year? I do so because we need to recognize that not everyone is celebrating the holidays. Some people are simply trying to survive them. You may know someone who's grieving right now, and you might not have all of the answers. Remember, the most important thing is not always knowing what to say, because despite your vocabulary, being a constant presence and support in a person's life can make all the difference in the world. This holiday season may be your opportunity to not only refer someone to GriefShare but also to come with them.      

As you prepare for what life has in store for you today, you may become a friend and a resource to someone experiencing spiritual, mental, and/or emotional pain resulting from the death of a loved one. You could be that needed support system to a person who's suffering in a way that Joan Didion described when she said, "Grief is different. Grief has no distance. Grief comes in waves, paroxysms, sudden apprehensions that weaken the knees and blind the eyes and obliterate the dailiness of life." 

What a blessing you could be in another person's life this holiday season. God may use you to soften the pain and keep a person from fully experiencing what Joan Didion describes.   

2025 Copyright (c) Elton L. Young
All Rights Reserved