Grieving Loss

 When grieving a loss, we sometimes might chastise ourselves for feeling so stupid or forgetful about things.  Don’t.  It is all part of grief.  When Mary Magdalene came to the empty tomb, she weeped so hard, filled with a sense of loss, that she did no even recognize she was talking with angels, or the voice and presence of Jesus, himself.  But once called by her first name, a moment of intimacy, a connecting moment, she recognizes Jesus.  When a newcomer enters a recovery meeting for addicts, they are often so filled with grief at losses in their life, that they seem to hear nothing.  This is normal.  They are grieving.  So those others in the meeting who are farther along in recovery need to call the newcomer by their first name.  If the newcomer is ignored, it is not much of a recovery meeting.  If a newcomer enters a worship space, the community or church members need to find out the newcomers name, and welcome the person.  Or else it is not much of a community of believers.