All Is Not Loss

Loss and grief: a burden and an invitation

This book came about from an observation that loss follows us from cradle to grave. It is not a rare intruder in life, but part of its very texture. This suggests we are grieving in some way most of the time.

If grief is everywhere, it led me to wonder whether it has any purpose. Is grief somehow adaptive? Does it give back in some way? The evidence of many grieving people is that grief can be transformative, connecting us more to ourselves, to one another, and to the divine. It can open us up to new insights, and enlarge our humanity. There is a spirituality to grief to be explored.

The book examines some of the many griefs that prick our eyes on a daily basis – not only bereavement, but such losses as parting, regret, failure, nostalgia, and shame. But it also looks for signs that all is not loss – that amidst the pain we may encounter an invitation to greater connection, insight and personal growth. Our pervasive grief does not always point to a desolate world: it harbours a hopeful spirituality.

Throughout, I avoid offering glib short-cuts on the necessary journey of grief. Instead I highlight the experiences of those who have been ravaged by loss and grief and yet have found their lives enlarged. It is their voices that speak loudest. I’m also concerned to offer hope to those experiencing climate and environmental grief, and to the need to remember our spiritual selves and our embodiment in the natural world which we have so recently forgotten.

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CHAPTERS:

Introduction: The Spirituality of Grief
1. Bereavement
2. Mortality
3. Dependence
4. Parting
5. Nostalgia
6. Failure
7. Shame
8. Regret
9. Forgetting