Steps in Dealing With Grief, United Church of God

   Steps in Dealing With Grief   : We all have to cope with the loss caused by death. How can we deal with our grief and help others who are grieving?                                                 

• Stages of grief: denial
• Stages of grief: anger
• Stages of grief: bargaining
• Stages of grief: depression
• Stages of grief: acceptance

This, too, shall pass away

Time is a great healer. This is especially true in the case of the loss of a loved one.

In a speech before the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society in 1859, Abraham Lincoln commented: “It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate at all times and situations. They presented him with the words, ‘And this, too, shall pass away.’ How much it expresses. How chastening in the hour of pride. How consoling in the depths of affliction.” [speech also quoted in Lincoln on America's Future]
Continue reading  Steps in Dealing With Grief

On the same shelf:

• Finding Angels In Boulders: An Interfaith Discussion On Dying And Death   Bruce Gordon Epperly
• Lessons from the Dying   Rodney Smith
• Two of a Kind   V'victoria
• Two of a Kind   M'margaret
• Surprised by Grief: A Journey into Hope   Janine Fair
• Gateway to Life: Death and Bereavement - Help and Hope Along the Journey
  Anthony M. Smith
• A Gift for the Bereaved Parent: A Remedy for Grief from the Islamic Perspective Using Quotes from the Quran and Hadith
• Grief & Depression From an Islamic Perspective   DR ABDULLAH AL-KHATER
• Discourses on Aging and Dying   Suhita Chopra Chatterjee
• Dying, Death and Bereavement in a British Hindu Community (New Religious Identities in the Western World)   S Firth
• Grief on the Ganges   Daphne Delaine
• Healing Mantras: Using Sound Affirmations for Personal Power, Creativity, and Healing   Thomas Ashley-Farrand
• In Amma's Healing Room: Gender and Vernacular Islam in South India   Joyce Burkhalter Flueckiger
• No Death, No Fear: Comforting Wisdom for Life   Thich Nhat Hanh
• Preparing to Die: Practical Advice and Spiritual Wisdom from the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition   Andrew Holecek
• The Joy of Living and Dying in Peace: Core Teachings of Tibetan Buddhism (Joy of Living & Dying in Peace)   Dalai Lama
• The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying: The Spiritual Classic & International Bestseller
  Sogyal Rinpoche

A Quote To Live By: “To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die”

Death and dying is a subject that is a common concern of all religions and philosophies.

Reading a blog post by Lita C. Malicdem, 'To Live Meaningfully, Die for Others (Ampatuan Massacre),' reminded me in another context, death has positive side too. In this context I quote famous lines from The poems of Thomas Campbell (1777-1844): "To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die." (p. 249)


[info courtesy: Angel, Aasman Se Aaya ek Farishta]

Burial Space in the News - Think Globally and Sync Locally

Extract:
"In Europe and Asia, where people have been living and dying for a hell of a lot longer, traditional burial practices have given way to practical considerations. Grave plots are now commonly "rented'' for a fixed term, the remains later disinterred and placed in an ossuary or crypt. It's posthumous recycling, intended to prolong in perpetuity the "life cycle'' of a graveyard, which strikes me as an oxymoron.

In truth, if mortal congestion doesn't get you tossed from your mummy chamber, erosion, acts of God and global warming just might. I've seen, from flooding in New Orleans to earthquakes in Managua, entire cemeteries on the move. In Alaska, I watched ancient Inuit graves – originally dug far from the coastline – drop into the encroaching sea, no ice floe left to restrain wind and currents.

Some cultures have done us all a great favour by putting corpses to the torch as religious ritual. It's tidy and environmentally friendly. It's also becoming increasingly popular as a cost-conscious alternative in the West.

About half of Canadians now opt for cremation." continue reading: Burial space on my list of worries, by Rosie DiManno @ Toronto Star

Once we're dead, let's talk

Vinay Menon Toronto Star
We're supposed to look our best ... even when we're dead?
I just finished reading a rather morbid story on msnbc.com titled, "Final Touch: A Cosmetic Lift for Your Funeral." And now I'm tempted to bleach my teeth, get laser eye surgery and do 1,000 abdominal crunches.
You know, just in case I expire tomorrow. continue reading

see also on the same shelf:

• 1st computerised Muslim graveyard in the making
• Death and Dying - Multifaith Resource Series no.1
  

A Quote To Live By: “Don’t worry, the first bullet will hit me,”

Extract: The quote that stands out from the last three days is of the soldier who escorted to safety guests who had been herded into a salon in the Taj Mahal Hotel. “Don’t worry, the first bullet will hit me,” he said as he asked his frightened flock to follow him. That remark showed this unnamed hero's awareness that a wry sense of humour can help break the tension, it showed that he was not looking to his own safety, and it showed a confidence in his ability to manage the situation: he knew what he was doing. The question is, did the country’s leaders? @ T N Ninan: Failures at the top, Business Standard

see also: Heroes Emerge From Mumbai Massacre

Funeral Etiquette

When a friend or colleague (or a colleague's family member) dies, it's human to consider 'what can I do to make him / her feel better?' And, in the case of others, we need to ask or know: is there a specific practice, custom or behavior that I should be aware of?

And, for this if you are looking for Funeral Etiquettes (To Do and NOT to Do, Dress, What to say, Gifts and other expressions of sympathy, appropriate behaviors to observe) in Islam / Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Baha'i, or in any faith, religious / spiritual group, Ask me