sorrow

New Podcast: “Sweet Spirit, Comfort Me”: A Midnight Prayer for the Grieving

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Sleepless with sorrow? You’re not alone. In this moving episode of Journey from Grief to Healing, Ray reads Robert Herrick’s timeless poem, “Sweet Spirit, comfort me,” offering companionship for those haunted by late-night grief. Through poetry and reflection, this episode brings hope to the darkest hours—when you don’t need answers, just presence. Whether you’re lying awake or walking through sorrow, this episode gently reminds you: comfort is closer than you think.

Points to Ponder

  • Why does grief often feel heavier at night—and what can help us carry it?
  • What does the repetition in Herrick’s poem offer the grieving heart?
  • How do we experience the unseen presence of comfort or the divine in silence?
  • In what ways can poetry serve as a spiritual anchor during emotional storms?
  • Can hope exist in the smallest flicker—and is that enough to hold on?

New Podcast: The Light That Refuses to Die: Tolstoy’s Gift to the Grieving

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🌟 Even in the darkest grief, a tiny ember inside us refuses to die. In this episode of Journey from Grief to Healing, I reflect on a powerful quote by Leo Tolstoy and how it reminds us that hope survives—even when the world feels hopeless. If you’re carrying sorrow today, this one’s for you. 🎧


🎙️ Listen now: “The Light That Refuses to Die: Tolstoy’s Gift to the Grieving”

New Podcast: Life Is Fine… Even When It Feels Like It Isn’t

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In this episode of Journey from Grief to Healing, we explore how “flow”—that peaceful, focused zone where time disappears—can become a lifeline during grief. From lifting weights to cooking dinner, I share how ordinary activities can bring extraordinary peace. We’ll hear from the late poet Langston Hughes, whose words have kept me grounded in the beauty of life, even after loss. If you’ve ever been hijacked by painful memories or anxious futures, this episode is your gentle guide back to the now—where healing quietly waits.

Sometimes grief drags us where we don’t want to go—into the past or into a future full of fear. But what if the key to healing is right here, in the now? Tune in as we explore how “flow” can become a lifeline—and why Langston Hughes reminds us that life is fine… even when it hurts.

Healthy Tip: Sorrow: The Sense That Speaks in Stillness

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Healthy Tip: We’ve been taught to move past sorrow quickly, like it’s a pothole on the road to normalcy. But sorrow isn’t something to dodge. It’s something to listen to. Sorrow is a sign that something mattered. It reminds us that we’re connected, invested, and vulnerable.

Practical example: After losing a pet, a man kept setting out a bowl of food at feeding time for weeks. He knew the pet was gone. But sorrow needed a ritual. That bowl was his quiet way of honoring the bond. His emotional sense of sorrow was helping him grieve.

Sorrow, when welcomed, can be healing. It doesn’t ask us to fix it — just to feel it.

Teaser for Post 4: Tomorrow’s emotional sense may surprise you—one we often chase, but rarely understand.

Healthy Tip: The Sixth Sense You Actually Use Every Day (And Didn’t Learn in Biology)”

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For the next 5 posts beginning today I will focus on our emotional senses and how we can use our emotional senses to promote emotional health.

Healthy Tip: We all know the big five senses — sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. They get all the attention, all the textbook love. But what about the senses that don’t show up in the anatomy charts? The ones that speak in whispers, not signals? I’m talking about your emotional senses.

Emotions like joy, sorrow, and happiness aren’t just moods that pass through like a summer breeze. They’re more like internal instruments — quiet sensors attuned to life’s deeper truths. When something is right, you feel joy. When something is missing, you feel sorrow. When you’re aligned with what matters most, you feel happiness.

Practical example: Ever meet someone and instantly feel at peace around them? You can’t explain it, but something inside says, “Yes. This feels right.” That’s not magic or mystery — it’s your emotional sense doing its job.

These emotional senses guide our choices, shape our relationships, and help us heal. They may not be visible, but they are very real.

Teaser for Post 2: Coming next: The quiet magic of joy—how to recognize it, nurture it, and let it surprise you.

Forever ~ A Poem by Lucy Maud Montgomery

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Forever

Lucy Maud Montgomery

 I

With you I shall ever be;
Over land and sea
My thoughts will companion you;
With yours shall my laughter chime,
And my step keep time
In the dusk and dew
With yours in blithesome rhyme;
In all of your joy shall I rejoice,
On my lips your sorrow shall find a voice,
And when your tears in bitterness fall
Mine shall mingle with them all;
With you in waking and dream I shall be,
In the place of shadow and memory,
Under young springtime moons,
And on harvest noons,
And when the stars are withdrawn
From the white pathway of the dawn.

                II

O, my friend, nothing shall ever part
My soul from yours, yours from my heart!
I am yours and you mine, in silence and in speech,
Death will only seal us each to each.
Through the darkness we shall fare with fearless jest,
Starward we shall go on a joyous new quest;
There be many worlds, as we shall prove,
Many suns and systems, but only one love!

Source

Hidden Sorrows ~ A Poem by Alfred Castner King

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Hidden Sorrows

Alfred Castner Kind

For some the river of life would seem
  Free from the shallow, the reef, or bar,
As they gently glide down the silvery stream
  With scarcely a ripple, a lurch, or jar;
But under the surface, calm and fair,
  Lurk the hidden snags, and the secret care;
The waters are deepest where still, and clear,
And the sternest anguish forbids a tear.

For others, the pathway of life is strewn
  With many a thorn, for each rose or bud;
And their journey o’er mountain, o’er moor, and dune,
  Can be plainly tracked by footprints of blood;
But deeper still lies the hidden smart
  Of some secret sorrow, which gnaws the heart,
And rankles under a surface clear;
For the sternest anguish forbids a tear.

But, when the journey’s end we see,
  At the bar of the Judge of quick and dead,
The cross, which the one bore silently
May outweigh his of the bloodstained tread.
The cross unseen, and the cross of light,
  May balance in that Judge’s sight;
O’er the heart that is breaking a smile may appear,
For the sternest anguish forbids a tear.

Source

Light ~ A Poem by Swami Vivekananda

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Light

Swami Vivekananda

I look behind and after
                        And find that all is right,
In my deepest sorrows
                      There is a soul of light.

Source

Only ~ A Poem by Harriet Prescott Spofford

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Only

Harriet Prescott Spofford

Something to live for came to the place,
Something to die for maybe,
Something to give even sorrow a grace,
And yet it was only a baby!

Cooing, and laughter, and gurgles, and cries,
Dimples for tenderest kisses,
Chaos of hopes, and of raptures, and sighs,
Chaos of fears and of blisses.

Last year, like all years, the rose and the thorn;
This year a wilderness maybe;
But heaven stooped under the roof on the morn
That it brought them only a baby.

Source

From Cocoon to Butterfly: Breaking Free from Grief

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Listen to my Podcast, Journey from Grief to Healing, Episode 117 on your favorite podcasting app or click here for Episode 117  

In Episode 117 of “Journey from Grief to Healing,” we explore the profound interplay between joy and sorrow as essential parts of the human experience. Reflecting on personal memories and poetic wisdom, this episode delves into the idea that life’s unpredictability shields us from the burden of foreseeing the pain of losing loved ones, allowing us to cherish moments of joy untainted by fear.

The episode features insights from the works of poets Kahlil Gibran and Louisa May Alcott, highlighting how grief and joy are intertwined. It emphasizes that attempting to shield ourselves from sorrow also deprives us of joy, as illustrated by the transformation of a butterfly breaking free from its cocoon.

Listeners are encouraged to embrace life fully, despite the pain of loss. Drawing on the thoughts of Paulo Coelho, we discuss how the fear of suffering often outweighs the suffering itself. The episode concludes with a call to celebrate the lives and memories of our loved ones, carrying their love and influence forward as we continue to live, not merely exist.

Tune in to find solace and strength, and to learn how to honor your grief while embracing the joy that life has to offer.

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