SOLACE: Soul + Grief

Like Waking From A Dream

Send us Fan MailYou know that split second after a vivid dream where it still feels real, like the person is still there? That’s the doorway we walk through today, because grief often behaves exactly like that: irrational, symbolic, and completely untethered from clocks and calendars. IWe talk about how both dreams and bereavement collapse time the past becomes present and the dead feel alive. Rather than treating that as weakness, we name it as the mind doing what minds do: trying again and again to metabolize a loss it cannot fully accept. We also face the hard part: the nightmare moments. Sometimes the most painful waves are the most honest, because they put us in direct contact with what’s real. I reflect on C.S. Lewis and the idea that love’s “impact” continues even after death the other is gone, but the impact remains. The takeaway is simple and sturdy: we don’t get over grief; we learn to dream differently, until this landscape becomes something we can move through without drowning.If this resonates, subscribe, share the episode with someone who’s hurting, and leave a review so more people looking for grief support can find it.one who is grieving. Subscribe for new Friday releases, and if you can, leave a review so more people searching for grief support and spiritual care can find us.SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE :  candeelucas@soulplusgrace.comATTEND MY SUMMER WORKSHOP ON "SOULFUL LISTENING" THROUGH THE MARKEY CENTER AT SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY VIA ZOOM.https://events.scu.edu/markey-center/event/359741-soulful-listening-workshops-on-the-ministry-ofArt:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnavand  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucashttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay

Grief Is Proof Of Love

Send a textGrief can be loud, but it can also be quiet enough to hide in plain sight. Sometimes it settles into the corners of our lives like dust we promise we will deal with later, when we have more time, more strength, or fewer responsibilities.  What happens when we keep postponing mourning, and why the “later” we wait for rarely arrives on its own.Start with a simple image that opens a big question: who and what lives at the corners of our lives? From there, we look at the corners where grief gathers, along with the complicated pieces that often come with loss like resentment, lingering harm, words we never said, and words we wish we could take back.  Grief has no clean endpoint, because love has no clean endpoint, and  avoiding grief can quietly intensify pain over years.We also explore a faith-centered perspective through the story of Jesus and the woman at the well, where someone who might be treated as a “corner person” is fully seen. That becomes a guide for our own healing: the things we fear in our grief corners are not calamities waiting to destroy us. They are shards of living love, chipped from both hearts, and they deserve gentle attention. This is a simple, practical image to carry with you: hold a bright candle to the corner, and bring what you find into the sunshine.If this speaks to you, listen, follow the show, and share it with someone who is grieving. Subscribe for new Friday releases, and if you can, leave a review so more people searching for grief support and spiritual care can find us.SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLE :  candeelucas@soulplusgrace.comATTEND MY SUMMER WORKSHOP ON "SOULFUL LISTENING" THROUGH THE MARKEY CENTER AT SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY VIA ZOOM.https://events.scu.edu/markey-center/event/359741-soulful-listening-workshops-on-the-ministry-ofArt:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnavand  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucashttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay

Sorrow As A Teacher, Love As A Map

Send us Fan MailGrief rarely follows our plans, and neither does love. We step into scripture using Ignatian imaginative prayer and walk alongside Jesus as the caravan grows, the chores pile up, and friendship matures through late-night talks and hard truth. When a stranger brings the unthinkable news—John has been beheaded—the scene turns to lament: a howl in the dark, a body received with care, linen and balm prepared, prayers whispered at a rocky graveside. Rather than rush toward answers, we sit in the holy weight of mourning and notice how faith breathes through presence, not performance.That tenderness meets a new test with the message about Lazarus. Should love hurry, or can delay bear a meaning we cannot see yet? We argue, plead, and name the fear in a mother’s eyes. The response points to a wider point of love, a horizon bigger than our urgency. This tension anchors a larger conversation about how believers wrestle with God’s timing: anger that tells the truth, hope that will not vanish, and trust that grows one honest prayer at a time.To hold all this, we turn to Kahlil Gibran’s meditation on pain as the breaking of the shell around our understanding. The image does not excuse suffering; it invites us to recognize the physician within, the remedy that stings because it heals, and the seasons that pass over the heart as surely as winter yields to spring. Along the way, we offer grounded spiritual direction for mourners, simple practices for noticing God’s nearness, and a gentle reminder that community can carry what we cannot.If this journey meets you where you are, subscribe, share this episode with a friend who is grieving, and leave a review so others can find a circle of support when they need it most.SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLEArt:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnavand  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucashttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay

What Grief Means to Us

Send us Fan MailHappiness showing up in the middle of grief can feel like a breach of loyalty. We talk honestly about that knot in the throat—the moment a new baby, a friend’s engagement, or a quiet sunrise stirs warmth while your heart is still heavy—and we offer a way to hold both truths without apology. Drawing on Scripture and lived experience, we explore whether joy follows sorrow, lives inside it, or both, and why that tension is normal, human, and often holy.We reflect on verses like “weeping may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning” and Paul’s paradox of being “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.” Rather than forcing a winner between emotions, we frame pain and joy as grounded in different realities: grief names what was torn; joy names what remains unshakable. Through a vivid boulder-in-the-storm image, we show how joy can be submerged by waves yet never dislodged, reappearing as the waters calm.The goal is not to erase sadness but to keep joy from going, trusting that tearful joy can, with time, become more spacious and even, at moments, tearless.If this conversation steadies you or someone you love, share it with a friend who’s grieving, subscribe for weekly solace, and leave a review with one moment of joy you noticed today. Your words may be the lifeline another listener needs.Please subscribe to us on Amazon Music, Spotify, or Apple MusicSPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLEArt:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnavand  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucashttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay

Zen, Ignatius, And The Voice That Heals

Send us Fan MailWhat if the center of your grief isn’t emptiness, but a voice that calls you "Beloved"? We explore a quiet, radical shift inspired by Ruben L. F. Habito’s Zen and the Spiritual Exercises, bringing Zen attention and Ignatian prayer together to meet sorrow without shame. Instead of ranking life by wins and losses, we invite you into a gentler metric—inner freedom rooted in identity rather than performance.We walk through the baptism of Jesus as a living scene, not a distant story. With sensory imagination and simple breath, we step into the water, hear the heavens open, and receive the naming that steadies the heart: “You are my beloved; with you I am well pleased.” From there, grief looks different. Not smaller, but held. You’ll learn how contemplative stillness can soften the tight loops of comparison, how Zen’s don’t-know mind releases deadlines for healing, and how Ignatian discernment guides daily choices toward what actually brings life.Across the conversation, we offer a short, practical practice you can repeat when waves rise: sit, breathe, listen, return. We talk about letting go of inherited rules about “strong” mourning, making space for tears without apology, and building a small rule of life—journaling after hard moments, naming the one you miss, and choosing companions who bring freedom. If you’ve ever wondered whether faith and mindfulness can speak the same language to a broken heart, this is a hand on your shoulder and a path under your feet.Please subscribe to us on Amazon Music, Spotify, or Apple MusicSPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLEArt:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/vasonaArts?ref=seller-platform-mcnavand  https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/candee-lucashttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2SFH4Z6Music and sound effects today by:   via Pixabay