For many people, Christmas arrives like a pretty package full of grief triggers: empty chairs, missing faces, and silent voices that haunt the holidays.
To help area residents who have suffered a loss deal with the sadness that the Christmas season often brings, leaders from four faith communities will hold a special caring service on Tuesday, Dec. 19. The gathering at 2 p.m. is open to everyone – regardless of religious affiliation or even no affiliation – at the Tri County Unitarian Universalists (TriUU), 7280 S.E. 135th St., Summerfield.
“The object of the loss isn’t as important as the emotional impact,” said Rev. Janet Onnie of TriUU. “The point of the service is to provide a quiet space where anyone who has felt the pain of a loss – whether of a beloved partner, child, pet, or ideal – to express their grief. That expression may take the form of sharing some memory, letting tears flow silently, or lighting a candle of remembrance and taking a flower of hope.”
Joining the Rev. Onnie will be the Reverends Robert Coats (Open Circle MCC), Thomas Poole, Jr. (Grace AME Church), and Drew Willard (UCC at the Villages).
The Pastoral Care Associates (PCA) at TriUU has been sponsoring this special observance for its congregation since 2013. The increasingly collaborative activities with other area congregations have now inspired them to share this service with three other faith communities.
“Holiday sadness is a common experience,” said Ed Boufford, PCA Team Leader. He acknowledged the advice given by AARP (the American Association of Retired Persons): “When we are grieving a loss of someone very close to us, it can be helpful to participate in a related holiday ritual in his or her memory. Some ideas: lighting candles for them, talking about them, buying children’s toys or books to donate in their name, dedicating a service to them, planting a tree, making a card or writing a letter, displaying their picture or placing an item of theirs among holiday decorations.”
“We wanted to provide a place where some of those ideas could be carried out,” Boufford said.
“Trying to move forward while denying the reality of grief causes one to fall face forward,” counsels Rev. Onnie. “Give yourself permission to cry. Weeping releases excessive tension. Address depression; don’t deny it. Pretending depression doesn’t exist only promotes its growth.”
For more information, call (352) 408-492
