Most of us have already or will receive some gut-punching news this spring and summer. We got some earlier this week. I'm still trying to find my breath through it and reorient myself because of it. For others it will be job loss, death, altered plans, whole futures upended. +

Because of how much bad news we're surrounded by right now, it will feel increasingly difficult to invite others to share our burden of sadness. We will feel like we're complaining or there are others who are worse off or we're selfish for hurting. +

We'll also be increasingly surrounded by those who try to make us count our blessings or make gratitude lists. These aren't bad, but they can drown out the need for shared, expressed, and felt grief. We can't Jesus Juke our way through the collective grief of 2020. +

A few years ago I commented that people spend whole years of their lives planning their weddings and no time planning their funerals, but death is a more certain future than marriage for all of us. My point is that we gush over celebration and skirt grief if we can. +

Then, when grief comes, we are surprised by it and can be nearly suffocated by it. Right now is the time to begin preparing for the grief you & your community are certain to face in coming days, weeks, and months. It *is* coming, just like we were warned #COVID19 was coming. +

The question is: are we prepared for it? How do we prepare? I don't fully know but I do recommend becoming familiar with the Psalms of lament, grabbing pockets of quiet where we can, find two or three people to whom we commit to suffering alongside, learning to meditate, +

take long breaks seeing/absorbing suffering of the masses so we can concentrate on our own grief and the grief of our two or three others. We WILL get thru this but our collective body will bear the scars of it for years to come. If we stuff down our grief, it WILL be worse. +

Since we got our sucker-punching news on Wednesday, I haven't had time to reorient myself. This morning I just sat and looked out the window for an hour, it was enough. It began to coalesce the compartmentalization I've been doing all week. +

In that one hour I welcomed grief instead of stuffing it. Whatever solutions we find work best for us longterm, this is the first step for all of it.

We have to welcome grief because it's coming anyway.

Start now.