I was putting away our Christmas decorations and I paused with my favourite one.  I contemplate leaving it out every year.  It’s an 8 x 11.5 plaque of St. Nick with the words “Believe” written across the top.  I love this plaque.  It elicits all types of warm feelings for me. The biggest one is a feeling of hope.  Hope for what?  I don’t know exactly, nor do I have specific answers even though I often reflect on it.  Sometimes it’s too much to think about, but it is a lovely feeling.

Maybe it’s how I use the word.  It can be so open ended and offers me many choices.  Maybe I like it because I can control it.  I choose the words I put before and after it:  “I believe”, “I do believe”, “I will believe”, “I don’t believe”, “I can’t believe”.  How I say it and what I choose to believe is up to me.  It’s all mine.

If you are grieving and have lost someone dear, the word ‘believe’ can be painful.  Your world has been turned upside down.  You can’t believe what’s happened.  You can’t believe how bad you really feel.

I invite you to own your grief.  I invite you to believe you are in pain and to believe that this has really happened.  This is the first step in your journey.  I invite you to believe in this process you find yourself in.  Believe your healing can begin.  Believe you will survive.  Believe in yourself.  I do.