SOLACE: Soul + Grief

Mourning The One Who Saw You Best

Send us a textToday, my daughter-in-law, Rachel takes us through the intimate, complicated journey of losing her father to COVID and finding unexpected grace in hospice care. Along the way, Rachel names the ache of anticipatory grief, the way traditions become flashpoints, and how a single sentence from a nurse can rearrange your world.What sets this story apart is the quiet courage in the details. Rachel’s father, a man who prized his intellect, drifts in and out of lucidity while she becomes his advocate and historian, translating his life for overworked staff. When a facility outbreak pushes him past the point of return, the decision to choose comfort over intervention becomes an act of love. A hospice worker asks for stories, hears about a grandmother’s gentle ear tug, and carries that ritual into the room so he doesn’t die as an anonymous patient—but as a father, a son, and a whole person. It’s a small gesture that turns a lonely goodbye into a sacred passage.We reflect on how grief compounds over time, why losing the person who sees you best reshapes identity, and the practical steps that help families navigate chaos: insist on clear updates, prepare for abrupt transfers, and use simple rituals to anchor meaning when you can’t be at the bedside. If you’ve ever carried a phone under your pillow, saved a plate at the table, or wondered how to say goodbye when you can’t hold a hand, this conversation offers honesty, tools, and tenderness. SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLEUPCOMING WORKSHOP ON  SOULFUL LISTENING:  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

Hope After Loss

Send us a textA nation’s grief can teach a child what silence looks like. With the Kennedy assassination as a first brush with public loss, we unpack how early experiences shape the way we mourn, speak, or go quiet when death enters the room. From the shock of seeing tragedy unfold on television to the private unsteadiness of waking beside a loved one who slipped away in the night, we explore how the manner of death changes the contours of grief without changing its weight.We talk about what gets lost when families don’t name their sorrow, and what becomes possible when communities choose to gather, listen, and remember. You’ll hear how love persists through the numb hours, how hope survives as a quiet companion, and how simple routines—brushing teeth, checking the mirror, speaking a name aloud—become anchors in days that feel unreal.If you’ve ever wondered why some losses feel harder to accept, or why certain questions won’t stop circling, this conversation offers language and gentle practices that honor both mystery and memory. The heart of it is simple: grief wants witnesses, and healing grows where love is named. Join us to find steadier footing, a kinder rhythm, and the stubborn jewel of hope you may have thought you lost.SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLEUPCOMING WORKSHOP ON  SOULFUL LISTENING:  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

Ignatian Spirituality for Healing Hearts

Send us a textHeartbreak doesn’t wait for perfect timing, and neither does grace. We open a gentle, practical pathway through grief by walking with the ten core elements of Ignatian spirituality—wisdom forged in the recovery of a wounded soldier who learned to listen for God in everyday life. This is a clear, story-driven guide to finding presence, freedom, and courage when the season feels heavy.We start with Ignatius’s origin story to show why this tradition is so practical: it meets real people in real circumstances. From there, we explore how to recognize God at work in ordinary moments, cultivate a call-and-response rhythm in prayer, and use discernment to make sound choices when emotions run high. You’ll hear why the heart leads the journey, how imagination in prayer brings comfort and clarity, and why interior freedom—not clinging to outcomes—opens space for wiser decisions and deeper peace.We unpack the Daily Examen as a five-minute anchor for reflection, gratitude, and next steps. You’ll learn the meaning of cura personalis—care for the whole person—and how Ignatian practice adapts to your pace, your story, and your limits. Community matters here: spiritual direction, collaboration, and shared mission keep us grounded and supported. Finally, we lean into the call to become contemplatives in action and men and women for others, finding God in family rooms, workplaces, hospitals, and holiday tables, and letting generous service transform sorrow into love.If this conversation gives you language for your own healing, subscribe, share it with someone who needs hope today.The ten elements help you notice God in daily life, make freer choices, and find a practical path through the holidays.Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Shakespeare Wrote His Grief So His Wife Could Hear It

Send us a textA mother’s cry, a father’s silence, and a play that turned private loss into words the world still leans on—we trace the tender line from Hamnet to Hamlet and what it reveals about how we grieve. We open with the film’s intimate portrait of marriage under strain, childbirth risk, and a family reshaped by the death of a son. From a boy’s heartbreaking plea to save his sister to a mother’s raw lament, the story refuses neat answers and invites us to feel the full weight of love.We then pivot to Shakespeare’s response: not a scene at a bedside, but the slow, deliberate work of writing. Hamlet becomes his container for sorrow, a place to test the edges of mortality, betrayal, conscience, and hope. Hearing the famous soliloquy through the lens of a grieving father changes everything; “To be or not to be” is no longer abstract debate, but a soul trying to stand in the storm. Along the way, we talk about how art can say what we cannot.Throughout the conversation, we return to a simple truth: grief is personal and cannot be standardized. Your bond with the one you lost is singular; so is your way of mourning. Please support us by subscribing on Amazon Music or SpotifyWe welcome suggestions for future episodes or reach out to us for one on one spiritual direction, individually or as a family as you travel through griefIf you have questions about spiritual direction while grieving, or grief support or grief groups in your community, my contact information is in the show notes.SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLEUPCOMING WORKSHOP ON  SOULFUL LISTENING:  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

Advent, Grief, And The Waiting Miracle

Send us a textWhat miracle are we waiting for when the holidays feel heavier than ever? We open the door to that question and follow it through Advent’s candles and into the honest landscape of grief—where tears, memory, and hope share the same table. Guided by Isaiah 55, we explore how God meets thirsty hearts with real nourishment, how love takes on flesh in fragile places, and how the Advent wreath holds darkness and light together without rushing us to feel better.The promise of scripture becomes more than poetry—it is a horizon for weary souls, a word that will not return empty, rain that soaks the soil of a broken season and brings seed for sowers, bread for eaters, and a path where peace brings us back.We also reckon with the hard questions: Will we receive the gift of love, not as an idea but as a practice? Can mourning coexist with joy without canceling it? As we wrestle, we keep company with the God who draws near, the people we miss, and the community that holds us while we heal. By the end, you’ll have language for your lament, a gentler way to navigate holidays, and a renewed sense that hope can live alongside sorrow.• Advent and grief held together as one path• The question of the awaited miracle in a season of loss• The Advent wreath as a model of darkness and light• Traditions and the ache of empty chairs at the table• Extending compassion to people on the margins• Isaiah 55 as invitation to thirsty hearts• God’s word as promise that does not return empty• Honoring the dead while choosing love in the presentPlease support us by subscribing on Amazon Music or SpotifyWe welcome suggestions for future episodes or reach out to us for one on one spiritual direction, individually or as a family as you travel through griefIf you have questions about spiritual direction while grieving, or grief support or grief groups in your community, my contact information is in the show notes.SPIRITUAL DIRECTION WHILE GRIEVING IS AVAILABLEUPCOMING WORKSHOP ON  SOULFUL LISTENING:  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