Midweek Meditation: EHC Principal 5 of 6

In Peter Scazzero's "The Emotionally Healthy Church," the fifth principle to cultivate emotional health is to learn to embrace grieving and loss. It means learning to be compassionate, to grow through pain and mature through suffering.

"Forgiveness is not a quick process. I do not believe it is possible to truly forgive another person from the heart until we allow ourselves to feel the pain of what was lost. People who say it is simply an act of the will do not understand grieving." (Peter Scazzero, The Emotionally Healthy Church, Zondervan, 2003, p157)

"Many of us have taken on our culture's pain-denying view of grieving. Perhaps the most popular way in our culture of not paying attention to our losses and pain is by medicating ourselves through an addiction. People use work, TV, drugs, alcohol, shopping or food binges, busyness, sexual escapades, unhealthy relational attachments, even serving others at church incessantly - anything to medicate the pain of life." (p161)

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#5 - EMBRACE GRIEVING AND LOSS (1-Very / 2-Sometimes / 3-Not Sure / 4-Never)

1. I readily admit my losses and disappointments. (  )
2. I usually reflect on what's wrong rather than pretend nothing is wrong. (  )
3. I take my time to grieve, just like David and Jesus. (  )
4. People in pain willingly come to me to share of their pain. (  )
5. I am able to cry and experience depression or sadness, explore the reasons behind it, and allow God to work through me. (  )
6. I regularly refrain from giving quick answers or solutions. (  )
7. I accept death and suffering as a part of life rather than questioning why all the time. (  )

Note that the lower your score, the better you are able to honestly deal with grief and loss.

conrade