Article July 2, 2001 Issue

GRIEF: BLOCKED OR DISSOLVED?

J. Thomas Black

Suddenly and unexpectedly, the grief hit me. I was driving to my brother Joe's funeral. Just a few days before, he and his wife, Louise, had been killed in the crash of his small plane.

Up to that moment, I'd been free of grief. The accident had been a jolt, but not a shock. Some familiarity with the concept that we are eternal, spiritual children of God had uplifted me. This wasn't some mystical thought, but a sense of life as tangible and permanent because we are one with God. I think a lot of people have that sense of existence.

But now, driving to the funeral, facing the prospect of standing in front of a large church overflowing with their friends and other relatives, I felt tense. This was not any fear of public speaking, but of being overwhelmed by grief. Grief would not help those folks find a touch of the peace I had been feeling.

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