loss 18
Erich Maria Remarque’s Grief
He decides to write about his experience. Two earlier novels were dismal affairs. But now in 1927, over the course of a few months, he fills each page with pain…
Mary Shelley’s Grief
Mary writes with gentle pathos, patience, and calm—traits common to those who have endured terrible loss. Her observations on life’s many ironies offer catharsis for author and reader alike.
Joan of Arc’s Grief
My grief would overwhelm me if I were not in God's grace. — Joan of Arc, February 24, 1431
Else Lasker-Schüler’s Grief
Her work is certainly redolent of sorrow and, as she describes it, the eternity that dwells within her. But her words also carry hope and surprising faith that she will…
Falling is Not Failure, and Getting up is Not the Point
Life knocks us down. It is the price of this world, however much we may kid ourselves otherwise. Our falls become part of us.
Sigmund Freud’s Grief
In expressing his love through epistolary lament, it may be that Freud discovered the precise meaning he felt he had lost.
Safe at Last
As the sun rises over the Nile or my daughter’s grave, it occurs to me that the ancient Egyptians may have been onto something. Jess lives on, her soul soars…
The Consolation of Silence
Your presence is needed. Hush. Stay. Show your love by letting them grieve.
Grief in Eternity
Yet at times, if only for a moment, I feel the shadow over my days is transformed into pure spirit. Such thoughts give me a surprising sense of quiet joy.
Wandering in Solitude
But there is something more going on. We also face a new “transcendent reality,” as Klass puts it, in which we see the spiritual world with new eyes. This may…
Facing Loss with Job and Faust
“Adonai has compassion,” sang the psalmist, “for he understands how we are made, he remembers that we are dust.” Perhaps in our dust of grief, we see clearly for the…
The Liberal Arts for Loss and Lament
The main posture of a liberal arts education is slowing down, rest, seeing. But if we just train students to only strive, reach, stretch for something more, then suffering will…
Saving String, Kicking Leaves: Donald Hall’s Elegies
Hall’s elegiac poetry and prose teach grim lessons that are worth heeding, but there is also a sort of unsentimental, necessary hope—a hope for continuity and unexpected rebirth, a hope…
Two Last Suppers and Ordinary Greatness: A Double Eulogy
What are the compensations on the downhill side of life?
Thoughts on the Return of College Football
Holland, MI. The beginning of the college football season is the closest thing to a state holiday in Michigan. The release of the new auto line might have at one time…
