No one ever told me that grief felt so much like fear.
- C.S. Lewis
Many people do not realize that when you leave a church or your old way of believing behind, that you go through a state of grief. This grief can follow the course of any other type of grief. The universal understanding of the grief cycle is as follows:
1. Shock, Denial and Isolation
2. Pain, Guilt
3. Anger, Bargaining
4. Depression, Reflection, Loneliness
5. Upward Turn, Recontruction, Acceptance, Hope
These stages can be mixed up at any time and worked through however they come to you. There is no right way to grieve a loss. For example, some days you might feel hope, anger and denial all within the span of a short few minutes.
Alot of people are taken aback by the level of pain they feel when their long-held belief system falls apart or begins to change. Alot of time these events happen after a tragedy (a loss or death for example) or perhaps even just in a gradual manner as you begin to question what you've always been taught.
The good news is, there is hope. As you work through these difficult feelings, you will reach a place where things start to make sense again. You might not have all the answers (come on, who does?), but you will come to a comfortable understanding again and a place of acceptance and hope.
1. Shock, Denial and Isolation
2. Pain, Guilt
3. Anger, Bargaining
4. Depression, Reflection, Loneliness
5. Upward Turn, Recontruction, Acceptance, Hope
These stages can be mixed up at any time and worked through however they come to you. There is no right way to grieve a loss. For example, some days you might feel hope, anger and denial all within the span of a short few minutes.
Alot of people are taken aback by the level of pain they feel when their long-held belief system falls apart or begins to change. Alot of time these events happen after a tragedy (a loss or death for example) or perhaps even just in a gradual manner as you begin to question what you've always been taught.
The good news is, there is hope. As you work through these difficult feelings, you will reach a place where things start to make sense again. You might not have all the answers (come on, who does?), but you will come to a comfortable understanding again and a place of acceptance and hope.
Matthew 5:4 Blessed are those that mourn, for they shall be comforted.God of comfort, help me to grieve this loss. Help me to walk through it until I come out on the other side and into hope. So be it.