Recently I read an article centered on the idea that people need to “fight grief” about climate change and instead focus on possibility and hope.
Possibility and hope are fine… and they don’t necessarily replace grief. Nor should they! Possibility and hope are attitudes about the future. Grief is an emotional response to the present.
As author and expert on grief Francis Weller recommends, we need to acknowledge grief and find ways of moving through it, so that it inspires our ceremonies, our actions, our friendships, our choices—and does not paralyze us.
The BTS Center in Bangor, Maine has launched a program called Lament with Earth that includes exquisite videos that interweave grief and spirituality without ever becoming maudlin or cliched. Here is a link to the Lament with Earth page. I recommend scrolling down and listening to the October 28 video, which centers on the element of air, boldly taking us from the omnipresence of precious air to the last words of George Floyd—and much more.T
Image Credit:
- Lament With Earth: BTS Center
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