12-1-18
Grief is interesting. It is different than mourning and bereavement. Whereas mourning is the outward expression of our grief and bereavement is the continued process one is placed in as a result of a loss, grief can almost be found in the direct moment where that cataclysmic loss occurs. It is the flood of emotional waves that encapsulate your spirit pulling you down
For this reason and much more grief is described as something to “get over,” however, in reality, it isn’t something that you ever “get over.” Instead, we are charged to integrate and learn how to accept the change that has occurred.
Grief will manage us, no matter how much we try to manage it. This is why it’s important to not disregard it, or place those barriers up to protect. One of the main conflicts with grief is though it is the acute emotional response to loss, it doesn’t go away when the moment passes, no, instead it will come around at even the slightest memory. Hence grief becoming something we live with.
There are moments in life where we are afforded the opportunity of insight. We have the ability to know how something will end, and so we can prepare ourselves for whatever the eventuality may be. When we know something is happening, something we may fear, or dread we are of course much more reluctant to take the necessary steps. However, these moments give us a rare opportunity.
Character is not defined by all the good experience in our lives, or all the experiences that we have been able to easily make it through. No, character is shaped by the falls, the bruises that chip away at our emotional exterior. Knowing there’s a situation where you will not win, but proceeding in honor and faith, that’s bravery.
I see this song as a call to the spirit within—it is coaxing the energy to do what it has to despite its reluctance. There is sorrow, and there is loss within the words and music, and yet it all culminates into a type of resilience. The image was one that I created some time ago, and it still it feels poignant. It depicts the guarding angel which watches over us having succumbed to enough damage; forcing the child in the foreground to contemplate their loss and necessity for transition.
Lyrics:
Hold your grandmother’s Bible to your breast
Gonna put it to the test
You wanted it to be blessed
And in your heart
You know it to be true
You know what you got to do
They all depend on you
And you already know
Yeah, you already know how this will end
There is no escape from the slave catcher’s songs
For all of the loved ones gone
Forever’s not so long
And in your soul
They poked a million holes
But you never let them show
Come on, it’s time to go
And you already know
Yeah, you already know how this will end
Now you’ve seen his face
And you know there’s a place in the sun
For all that you’ve done
For you and your children
No longer shall you need
You always wanted to believe
Just ask and you’ll receive
Beyond your wildest dreams
And you already know
Yeah, you already know how this will end