If you've ever been in a situation where you know that someone close to you is going to die, it can be an incredibly difficult and painful experience. Most of us have haven't done this a lot and we're not all together sure how we should engage with the process.
If it isn't a quick experience you can feel yourself torn between praying and wishing for a faster and less painful passing and then guilt for wishing death upon someone. It's torture to feel that however you are responding in your grief is the wrong way.
There's a swirl of emotions and most of us have to resist the temptation to not check out physically, mentally and spiritually.
As a church we are getting closer and closer to Easter, which is a celebration of the shocking, unexpected resurrection of Jesus Christ. But before Jesus can rise, he must go into the grave.
In the book of Mark Jesus warns his followers 3 times that he is going to die. We're going to look at these stories to see how Jesus is preparing his followers for a process of grief. It won't be easy and the acknowledgement that death and loss is coming is the first step in being able to properly grieve.