Today it was also heart-provoking, as we pondered the second Beatitude which is "blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." I asked the group, some of whom were in the room, masked and distanced, along with those who were present via Zoom from several different communities, what they are mourning as we come to the end of a year living with COVID-19.
We have participants who have lost loved ones to death in this past year, and couldn't attend their funerals. They mourn the loss and the unreality of it all. Others mourned the freedom to choose in different aspects of life. Some mourn the simple act of hugging friends, or gathering for meals. One person was both eloquent and emotional, which touched us all.
In the book AJ Levine speaks against the temptation to be trite or offer platitudes as we mourn. She draws upon her Jewish tradition of "sitting shiva", the deliberate period of mourning following a death which allows mourning to unfold.
Without intending any disrespect to Jewish custom, felt that this is what we did yesterday, as we listened to one another. We didn't get to the conclusion of my agenda for the session -- not even close. That was not only okay, it was the right thing to do. As Ruth, my wife, said afterward, this was a holy time, and we all knew it at some deeper place.
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