Shared grief hurts less. Seven thoughts of the Head of the UGCC of how to overcome hard moments in life in difficult times of pandemic

1. We should realize that grief is a part of human existence.We do not really know how to overcome grief as it is a part of human existence.

2. We need to have time and chance to cry, to overcome, live and thus accept a tragic situation. We are not robots. We have feelings and our needs. We need to have time to overcome grief.

3. There is no need to escape from the explanation of death. The pandemic brought us again a huge question about the meaning of human life and death. Today, especially in very rich societies we have temptation to escape from the explanation of the death, to hide this side of human existence. We are tempted to live in the world of show. We pretty know how to live the sentiment of joy but we do not have enough ability, we simply don’t know how to overcome or go through grief and sorrow.

4. To be Christians means to have a hope amidst grief and sorrow. As Christians we believe in eternal life, we believe in Resurrection. Thus, we have a hope.

5. We must not lose hope that our deceased relatives are with our Heavenly Father. I lost my Mom but I understood that I offered her into the hand of my Heavenly Father. It was my wish to hold her with me. But maybe in our life is coming a moment when we have to simply offer my dearest Mom into the hands of my God and Creator. That is a unique hope. That she is with Him. That she is alive. And I can continue to communicate with her in a bit different way.

6. We need to accept a fact that sometimes we have no answers. It is difficult to sympathize, especially if somebody lost the dearest father or mother without a possibility to stay beside her in the very last moment. This is the case of COVID disease, as many people were not able to be with their parents in their very last moment of their lives. Let us accept it without blaming anyone here, neither us, others or God.

7. Shared grief hurts less. If you have parents, friends who are undergoing this period of grief, please, stay with them, because shared grief gets less painful. It is within our power to be present, to assist, stay aside or give our hug. We can and even must cry together. I think it is extremely important and possible in order to overcome hard moments in life. To go through, not run away from that situation but go through to get this divine consolation.

Prepared by Chrystyna Potereyko,

The UGCC Department for Information