February 6

Day 239: Addressing our Losses

Within the last day, the US Supreme Court ruled against the Governor, and in favor of churches reopening for indoor services in California. I have to believe there is now a new sense of hope in my home state.

So it has me wondering. If there is even a continuing glimmer of hope among us here, if that hope is eventually actualized, how then will we emerge? How will we reengage with people and the return to some more recognizable rhythms and relational connections?

That in turn has me wondering. What needs to be addressed, before we fully engage again? Let me attempt to answer my own question/s.

Loss. I sense we are all grieving the loss of something(s) we had almost a year ago. I also sense some of us will grieve losing the present online, digital, Zoom life many of us have lived in (through.)

The challenge with all this is that we are not necessarily experiencing losses identical to each other. One's felt loss is someone else's no big deal. It may be our introverts and our extroverts are both grieving loss, but those losses likely differ.

But going a degree deeper, I sense none of us know in full what we've each lost, therefore the losses we are grieving. Therefore, it's likely we are grieving loss we have not fully comprehended.

Some of the felt losses are legitimate, observable, tangible. These are likely held in common by all of us, at least to some degree.

Other felt losses, or impending loss may have more to do with new habits, new rhythms now perhaps changing again. (Think of no morning commute or having to dress for work, if that applies.)

And it may be that some of us are not happy with who we now are, what we've become in the past 11 months. (Think weight gain, or lack of personal disciplines, etc.)

Now, my undergrad degree in psychology does not make me a psychologist. But, let me say it this way. I wonder if all of us are grieving something.

And if so, we know grief comes in stages, seasons, in waves even. And, grief makes it hard to see beyond the deep sense of loss. And, our griefs must be addressed. Our griefs cannot be ignored.

So I then wonder; will this (addressing our respective losses) be the first order of business for reemerging churches in California, or anywhere else, for that matter? It might need to be near the top of the list, at least.

This morning, I've been led to this: Philippians 3:8. "Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ."

And with that, I will today ponder and consider how that verse speaks into my own grief, my own sense of felt loss. Yours too. I want you and I to grieve what we need to grieve. To not address our grief cannot be healthy.

At the same time, I do not want to live with grief longterm. I want, instead, to gain Christ. As He is "familiar with grief," He can be found.

Even in and through our process of addressing our grief.