Monthly reflections from Kevin Keelen.
Each month, our bereavement minister Kevin Keelen shares a short reflection: a thought, a story, or a gentle companion for wherever you are on your grief journey. New writings appear here as they are published.
-
Keep on keeping on
February 27, 2021 KEEP ON KEEPING ON Dear Friends, In today’s entry from Grief One Day at a Time, Dr. Wolfelt shares: “Many people do little or nothing with their grief. Buying into the cultural misconception that it’s better to keep their grief to themselves and ‘get over it’ as quickly as possible, they lock…
-
Suffering
Suffering Dear Friends, -Over 500 years before Christ, the Greek playwright Aeschylus wrote: “He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep pain, which cannot forget, falls drop by drop upon the heart, until in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.” -600 years before Christ, Buddha’s…
-
Hidden Gifts
Hidden Gifts Dear Friends, When a day like Valentine’s Day comes rolling around, the rest of the world (those who are not grieving) are surrounded by decorations, flowers, chocolates and other gestures of friendship and love, while others just want it to be another Sunday, painfully waiting for the day to end. And even though…
-
FRIGHTFUL OR DELIGHTFUL
FRIGTHFUL OR DELIGHTFUL? Dear Friends, The snow is falling softly outside my window as I write today. So… the question is; Is the weather outside frightful or is it delightful? I’m one of those people who love snow, so I’m finding it most delightful with my fireplace lit and a warm cup of tea. But…
-
Marion
Dear Friends, At 6:18pm tonight -which is Sunday, many of us from the Stephy’s Place family will be placing candles in our windows in a prayerful, communal response for our friend and mentor Marion Fitzgerald, who is suffering from cancer and not doing well. Some of you may have never heard of Marion before, so…
-
What’s it all about
What’s it all about? Dear Friends, I’ve been pondering the meaning of life quite a lot lately… I wonder why? LOL – Probably most of us have, given our current circumstances and times. This is something I do on a regular basis. However, lately the question seems consistently and continually before me. What’s it all…
-
Curse the darkness
Dear Friends, Three weeks ago, I was given the news that a friend who is a friar in a monastery in PA got Covid, and we were asked to pray for him and his brother who also had it. They both survived, but since then three friars and their cook perished from this insidious virus.…
-
Masks
January 4, 2021 Masks Dear Friends, Rather than saying ‘happy new year,’ let me simply hope and pray for us all that 2021 be a year of healing, comfort, blessing, growth, and health. Good riddance 2020! Don’t let the door hit you in the @** on the way out!!! By now, you all must be…
-
Surviving the
1 Surviving the Holidays in 2021 For those who are grieving, the holidays can often loom as a horror hanging just over the horizon. Keeping in mind that everyone grieves differently, it’s pretty universal that the holiday season can magnify our feelings of loss and sorrow. These future dates can be so all-consuming that they…
-
12 Days of Christmas
Dear Friends, I so enjoyed a piece I recently read, that I want to share it with you today in its entirety. It is a take on the 12 Days of Christmas cleverly written for those who are grieving during this pandemic. It is authored by Shirley Blanch, a Mindfulness Coach, Speaker and Writer from…