Overcoming Grief Reflection

After reading this book I thought to myself that I have never really experienced anything as traumatic as Sittser, or really anything traumatic compared to his story and the stories of those he had shared. Then, after that thought I then remembered that toward the beginning of the book he explicitly stated that everyone’s pain is different and cannot be compared. In addition, through out the book he consistently spoke about the difference between a fracture and an amputation. He explained that a fracture can be healed but and amputation cannot be, it has to be overcome. Finally he talked about the different ways you can overcome grief. These three things spoke to me in different ways and are what I would like to focus my reflection on: the individuality of pain, his metaphor of amputation, and the ways you can overcome grief. I could never dream of comparing my own pain and tragedy to the pain and tragedy Sittser has experienced. The fact that …show more content…
I found it interesting the ways his cousin and his sister explained it. One of the ways discussed was basically just to walk toward the sun and you’ll make it to the light. The other was, “The quickest way for anyone to reach the sun and the light of day is not to run west, chasing after the setting sun, but to head east, plunging into the darkness until one comes to the sunrise.” I found it tremendously brave of Sittser to admit that he in fact chose the side of darkness in order for him to find the light again. In Richard Rohr’s article Finding God in the Depths of Silence he says:
“The ego gets what it wants with words. The soul finds what it needs in silence. The ego prefers light-immediate answers, full clarity, absolute certitude, moral perfection, and undeniable conclusion-whereas the soul prefers the subtle world of darkness and light. And by that, of course, I mean a real interior silence, not just the absence of