In Our Darkest Moments Remember: All Is Well

Is it true that no one escapes pain, fear, and suffering?

We cannot really know the life of another person. But, as we contemplate this thought, mentally walking through our list of family, friends, and acquaintances, it appears to be largely true.

If so, what is our response when we experience the turmoils and losses in life? Further, how do we respond when someone close to us experiences setbacks and losses?

Martha W. Hickman, author of “Healing After Loss”, thought her world had all but ended “when the realization was hammering at my heart that my daughter’s death was not some nightmare from which I would recover but was for all time…”

She writes, “…a friend came into the room, put her arm around my neck, and said, “Everything’s going to be all right. I thought she was crazy. And yet…and yet…was it possible that she was right?”

I am not sure that the right words from a friend or anyone when a person is in that great moment of deep grief or despair is, “Everything’s going to be all right.”

There really are events in life that go beyond the pale. You think to yourself, “How does anyone ever recover from such trauma, such loss?”

Nora McInemy (NPR/Ted Radio Hour podcast) tells how she was grieving over the loss of…