If Terri Schindler-Schiavo dies many will grieve her passing. In fact that grieving has already begun. I’m not referring to sympathy for her parents, but grief over personal loss. (Certainly not the same as those who actually know her, but real nonetheless.)
According to Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, loss (no matter how large or small) is experienced in following stages:
1) Denial
2) Anger
3) Bargaining
4) Depression
5) Acceptance
What many do not understand is that we meander through these stages for each loss we experience. Terri’s ordeal is not the loss, it is merely the catalyst for multiple losses. The most easily recognizable loss will be the life of a young woman. But for many, there will be (and are now) other losses.
For some it is the loss of innocence. A loss of faith in the judicial system. A few, perhaps, will experience a loss of faith in the power of prayer. Or in God Himself.
Many will re-experience the loss of family members and loved ones. Grief they thought they had put to rest years ago.
Some will wonder about the roller-coaster effect of their own emotions: in one stage regarding one loss and a few minutes later a different stage for a related loss.
Christians grieve; we go through the same process everyone else does. But at the end of the process, we have hope. Acceptance will look different for each of us. We will attempt to make sense of a senseless situation by renewing efforts toward ministry, or political activism, or prayer, or simply a heightened awareness and compassion for others.
Acceptance for a believer is not just a belief in heaven, but a belief that somehow God is still in charge. Even when we are experiencing loss.
If you would like to make a comment, please fill out the form below.
