{"id":5365,"date":"2019-08-05T22:15:21","date_gmt":"2019-08-06T02:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/?page_id=5365"},"modified":"2022-02-17T08:25:54","modified_gmt":"2022-02-17T13:25:54","slug":"six-spiritual-principles-of-healing-after-grief-loss-healing-2019","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/six-spiritual-principles-of-healing-after-grief-loss-healing-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Six Spiritual Principles of Healing after Grief &#038; Loss &#8211; Healing 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div align=\"center\" class=\"youtube-responsive-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/t3Z_xNgyES8?rel=0&amp;modestbranding=1\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"564\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\" id=\"summary\">Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>Jeannie talks about her personal experiences in grief and her journey to accept it and be at peace with it. She shares six spiritual principles on which we can reflect on and take to start our healing journey with grief to be closer to the Lord. She ends her talk with a prayer she wrote called, &#8220;Prayer to Seek Truth&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you for watching and participating in this retreat!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Not Registered, yet? Don\u2019t miss the rest of the talks! Register for the Pray More Retreat!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-horizontal is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-layout-1 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link\" href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/2019-healing-retreat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Click Here to Register!<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\" id=\"downloads\">Downloads<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"audio-mp3\">Audio MP3<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/01-Jeannie-Ewing-Six-Spiritual-Principles-of-Healing-After-Grief-Loss.mp3\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"undefined (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Click&nbsp;here&nbsp;to download audio file.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"printable-study-guide-pdf\">Printable Study Guide PDF<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Six-Spiritual-Principles-of-Healing-after-Grief-Loss-Study-Guide.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"undefined (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Click here to download the printable study guide.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"printable-transcript-pdf\">Printable Transcript PDF<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/01-Jeannie-Ewing-Six-Spiritual-Principles-of-Healing-After-Grief-Loss-Transcript.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"undefined (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Click here to download the transcript of the video presentation.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\" id=\"reflective-study-guide-questions\">Reflective Study Guide Questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p><em>\u201cPain and <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/saints-who-suffered-what-we-can-learn-from-them-lent-2022\/\">suffering<\/a> have come into your life, but remember pain, sorrow, suffering are but the kiss of Jesus \u2014 a sign that you have come so close to Him that He can kiss you.\u201d St. Teresa of Calcutta<\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>Do you believe that suffering can be redemptive? Have you ever witnessed redemptive suffering in yourself or a loved one?<\/li><li>Think about the one grief or cross in your life \u2013 the one that constantly occupies your thoughts and you bring to prayer again and again. Imagine if you could let that suffering and worry go for just one day or even one hour. Practice this principle of surrender and see how long you can go without trying to take that fear back from God.<\/li><li>Jeannie mentioned that abandonment means \u201crelinquishing the desire to have (your prayers) answered in a certain way.\u201d Are you okay with whatever God\u2019s answer to your prayers are? Have you ever successfully let go of this desire to ask for a specific outcome to your prayers? If so, how did it go and what were the results?<\/li><li>Jeannie referenced Bl. Solanus Casey\u2019s saying to thank God ahead of time. What is holding you back from being able to do this?<\/li><li>Do you believe that God has good things ahead for you? Why or why not? <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\" id=\"text-six-spiritual-principles-of-healing-after-grief-loss\">Text: Six Spiritual Principles of Healing after Grief &amp; Loss<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Hi. My name\u2019s Jeannie Ewing, and welcome to my talk about navigating your losses to find hope. I\u2019m so grateful that you could join us for this Pray More Novenas Healing Retreat, and I would like to begin this talk with a prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"opening-prayer\">Opening Prayer<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><em>In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Come, Holy Spirit. It is You, the Healer, the Healer of Hearts, who enters all of our broken places, all of the cracks, all of the darkness. You shine a light where this is no light; You give us hope when we are in despair; You help us find faith when we doubt. All of the people, myself included, who are here today in this moment have such heavy burdens to give to You, Jesus. Send Your Spirit. Send Your Spirit to heal all of the places in our hearts and all of the relationships in our lives that need to be healed. And we bring these intentions to You with trust and total confidence, and we thank You so much for Your Divine Mercy, Lord God. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"jeannie-s-background\">Jeannie&#8217;s Background<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>As I mentioned, my name\u2019s Jeannie Ewing, and I want to give you a little bit of background about why I\u2019m talking about grief. It\u2019s something that people ask me about quite often, and it\u2019s because I have talked about this subject and I have several books on the subject of grief specifically. So I would say that, in the beginning, I grew up in a home where mental illness was pretty rife. So my mom has obsessive compulsive disorder, my brother has the same &#8211; he has OCD as well &#8211; and my mom also has clinical depression, and my brother has bipolar disorder. So when I was growing up, I saw the pain that happened with both my mom and my brother, suffering from these invisible afflictions. I saw it in their eyes &#8211; they looked weary. There were times where they would cry and I was helpless, I couldn\u2019t do anything to help them. And there were moments when there was just sheer exhaustion, probably from what they were fighting in their own life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So that is actually grief. When we have mental illness in the family, or if we suffer from mental illness ourselves, that is grief. I also want you to understand that substance abuse can be another grief trigger. In my family, my brother struggles with substance abuse and alcoholism, and he has for a long time. but he\u2019s currently in recovery, which is a huge grace from God. Substance abuse is pretty prevalent in my family, and it might be in yours too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I was a kid, my maternal grandfather, we were very close to him, and so we often went to dinner with him or celebrated the holidays with him. And anytime that he would have 2-3 martinis, he would get very belligerent. He would pick on a particular member of the family, which was normally my mom, his daughter, and just be really condescending and hateful and spiteful, which would break up the whole comradery and merriment and create this pull upon the event, because someone always ended up in tears. I also had a cousin who died related to a crack cocaine overdose, and I remember as a kid her coming to my house, my parents\u2019 house, and coming at all hours of the night and day asking my parents for money and help, and I saw her physical appearance deteriorate and become disheveled and unkempt. And I saw the broken-hearted heart of that, of my family I would say, because of the loss that we saw in front of our eyes and what was happening to our cousin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of my really good friends, who happened to be at my husband\u2019s and my wedding, he also died of a drug overdose. It was deemed as accidental. He had struggled with substance abuse since his teen years, so for about 13 years at that point when he had died. And I met Nate right around the time he started using drugs, which terrified me because I did not have any desire at all to get involved with drugs. I was too scared of them, which was good in that sense. But Nate\u2019s mother, who he was very close to, had died of a brain tumor when he was about 15, and that\u2019s when I met him, it was right after she died, and he couldn\u2019t make sense of it and he self-medicated, and that\u2019s eventually what led to his death. My brother was also engaged to a young woman, a beautiful young woman. She was at our wedding with her little baby boy &#8211; my brother was going to adopt him &#8211; and she died in a drunk-driving accident. She was the one drinking and driving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I think the turning point, what I want to share with you about my own life, is when my husband and I welcomed our middle daughter Sarah into our family in 2013. We had no idea that she had a rare disease called Apert Syndrome. Now, Apert Syndrome is a craniofacial condition that affects fusion of the bones. So it can be in your elbows, it can be in your knees. It\u2019s always in your head and your face, and your fingers and toes. There are a whole host of other problems that accompany Apert Syndrome, and what we had discovered on this journey is it\u2019s a very complicated disease, because new things happen all of the time in terms of medical problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But what we do know and can expect is that she will have between 20 and 60 surgeries in her lifetime. Sarah has already had 7 surgeries, and the first one was when she was 6 months old. The craniofacial surgeon had to cut her skull open, which was fused at birth &#8211; she did not have a fontanelle, she did not have the soft skull. And when this was going on, I was just dying on the inside as a mom. I have been raised as a Catholic. I have always understood the term \u201cRedemptive Suffering,\u201d but I did not know how to live it. So I\u2019m going to share with you what grief is, and how we can move through grief spiritually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"understanding-grief\">Understanding Grief<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>So grief is a combination of the psychological, emotional, and spiritual experience that we integrate whenever there is any devastating loss that happens in our life. So most of you might be thinking \u201cWell, grief is related to death, like: \u2018my mom died,\u2019 or \u2018my grandpa died,\u2019 or \u2018I lost a sibling,\u2019\u201d and that\u2019s true, but grief happens to us any time there is a devastating loss in our life. It doesn\u2019t have to just be the literal death of a person, it can be the death of a dream, it can be the loss of a job, it can be financial problems, it could be financial&#8230; well I said financial struggles, or it could be divorce, adultery, abuse and neglect from your childhood, or even domestic violence in your current situation. It could be struggling with abortion, infertility, miscarriage, and all the things, all of the brokenness that happens around children and childbearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-ast-global-color-8-color has-text-color\">There are a whole host of things, a whole conglomerate of things that can trigger your grief. But I want you to understand that if you are struggling with something right now in your life, which my guess is that you are since you\u2019re participating in this <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/how-you-may-be-preventing-your-healing-healing-2018\/\">healing<\/a> retreat, think of that one thing that you\u2019re dealing with right now that is really causing you a lot of anguish, a lot of heartache. What\u2019s that one thing? Now, you might have multiple things, but there\u2019s got to be at least one that\u2019s very much on the forefront of your mind that bothers you often. It\u2019s something you probably bring to prayer often, maybe the sacraments. I want you to think of it right now, because as I\u2019m talking to you about this I want you to imagine how you can integrate what you\u2019re learning here with that one loss, that void that you\u2019re feeling, whatever your cross is right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So when Sarah was born, this cross for me was very mysterious, and I remember being very angry with God. And that\u2019s okay, but that\u2019s another talk I\u2019m going to give you. I was very angry with Him, because I didn\u2019t understand what He wanted me to learn from this, I didn\u2019t understand what He wanted me to glean out of the pain that she was going through &#8211; I couldn\u2019t prevent it, I couldn\u2019t do it for her &#8211; and then the pain that I felt as a mom, which Our Lady was&#8230; she understood that, because that\u2019s exactly what happened to her when she went through the mystical martyrdom as Jesus went through His Passion. Again, another talk that I\u2019ll give with this retreat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"six-spiritual-principles\">Six Spiritual Principles<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-ast-global-color-8-color has-text-color\">So right now, I want&#8230; So I mentioned some grief triggers and I told you what grief was. I want to give you six spiritual principles that have helped me tremendously in my journey of understanding <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/redemptive-suffering\/\">redemptive suffering<\/a> and integrating it into my own life. The first one is <strong>Humility of Heart.<\/strong> Why do I start here? Well, if you read any book about humility, or if you read anything from the saints about humility, they always say it\u2019s a foundational virtue. Without humility, you can\u2019t really have anything else. I also believe, because it\u2019s the antithesis of pride, pride is probably one of the primary weaknesses that invades our hearts and our psyches when we\u2019re grieving. And it can be in the form of anger, it can be in the form of blame, shame, resentment, unforgiveness, bitterness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So when we\u2019re talking about healing in these talks, we have to remember the very first place we have to start is to pray for humility. Humility is that virtue that\u2019s going to say \u201cI don\u2019t have all the answers, and I don\u2019t need to. I\u2019m going to live in the mystery, I\u2019m going to live the questions that I have, the why, or the why not, or the what ifs, or the if onlys, I\u2019m going to live in the midst of that and I\u2019m going to accept the fact that I may never, never have the answers that I want this side of heaven, and that\u2019s okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second spiritual principle is <strong>Abandonment to Divine Providence<\/strong>. So at this point, when you\u2019re grieving, you are surrendering. You\u2019re surrendering all of that tension, you\u2019re surrendering the frustration, the overwhelm, all of the intense emotions and the feeling of complete darkness, or the feeling of void, a void. You\u2019ve got a loss. There was someone or something that was filling your heart. It\u2019s gone. So you\u2019re abandoning that to God, you\u2019re saying \u201cLord, I relinquish this to You because I trust in You.\u201d And that\u2019s not easy. But it\u2019s something that if you can practice it every single day, it will eventually become more natural in your prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Third is <strong>Holy Indifference.<\/strong> Now I don\u2019t mean apathy, so I don\u2019t mean \u201cMeh, I don\u2019t really care.\u201d I\u2019m not talking about ambivalence; I\u2019m talking about an Ignatian concept of holy indifference. That means, when you\u2019re praying, think about the loss that I told you to think about a few minutes ago. When you pray about it, when you say to God \u201cLord, I want You to heal my mom of cancer.\u201d \u201cLord, I\u2019m asking You to bring me this job.\u201d \u201cLord, please let this relationship come together.\u201d \u201cLord, I want to be able to conceive a baby naturally.\u201d Whatever your thought is, or whatever your problems and suffering cross is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-ast-global-color-8-color has-text-color\">Think about what your prayers are. They\u2019re usually very specific, right. There\u2019s usually like \u201cI want this from You.\u201d And at the same time, holy indifference says \u201cI\u2019m going to pray that prayer, but I\u2019m going to surrender,\u201d so we\u2019re going back to divine providence, abandonment to it, \u201cI\u2019m going to relinquish the desire to have it answered a certain way.\u201d So, in other words, holy indifference means I pray my prayer from the heart, but I\u2019m okay if <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/strange-ways-god-heals-sufferings-advent-2016\/\">God doesn\u2019t answer it the way<\/a> that I want. I\u2019m going to be at peace with that. I\u2019m not going to let anything disturb that peace.\u201d And again, that\u2019s hard to live. But again, if you practice these principles on a daily basis, it begins with an act of the will, and it is expressed in your prayer. It will become more natural.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The fourth principle is <strong>The Dark Night of the Soul<\/strong>, and some of you may have heard this a lot, you may be familiar with it. The dark night of the soul, of course, is what we would call a San Juanist principle of spirituality. So St. John of the Cross was the one who coined this \u201cdark night of the soul.\u201d He wrote the Spiritual Canticle, which was about this mystical experience of the dark night. When it pertains to grief, let\u2019s think about that. A lot of times when we\u2019re grieving, we feel like we\u2019re such a mess inside we don\u2019t know the difference between holy and unholy darkness. We just don\u2019t know. So what happens is we kind of throw all of the darkness into the same category, but that\u2019s not true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So holy darkness is when your soul is in a state of grace, you are frequenting the sacraments &#8211; so especially the sacraments of healing, reconciliation, and receiving the Eucharist &#8211; and you are praying regularly, that means daily. When your soul is in that state of grace, and you feel like God\u2019s abandoned you &#8211; you can\u2019t feel His presence, you don\u2019t hear His voice speaking to you, you don\u2019t feel like He\u2019s answering your prayers, you can\u2019t really experience Him maybe the way you have in the past when you have had periods of consolations. You are in a period of desolation, and the temptation is to believe that God doesn\u2019t care, that He\u2019s not with you in your sorrow, that He\u2019s just completely forsaken you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But when you are in a state of grace, that\u2019s actually not true. It means that the Lord is inviting you to a deeper love, and that means loving Him for the sake of who He is, not for what He does for you. Think about that again. Loving God for the sake of who He is, the fact that He is God, not for the fact that He\u2019s giving you fuzzy feelings, giving you His time, answering the prayer that you want to be answered the way that you want it to be answered. You just give Him that love through your fidelity, through your prayer, through your obedience to following the church and following God\u2019s will. That\u2019s the dark night of the soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-ast-global-color-8-color has-text-color\">Unholy darkness is due to our sin, or it could be due to the sin of someone else, and that might be a different kind of healing that you need when you are broken. So, for instance, if you have suffered domestic violence, or abuse, or neglect, that is due to the sin of someone else that has caused that <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/healing-the-broken-hearted-healing-2020\/\">brokenness and that chasm in your heart<\/a> that has created that darkness, and that&#8230; it is not your fault and it\u2019s not because you did anything wrong, it\u2019s the result of the darkness and the evil that someone else did to you and you are <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/can-you-drink-the-chalice-im-going-to-drink-lent-2020\/\">suffering<\/a> the residual effects of that in your heart. And so that\u2019s a different kind of healing than when the Lord kind of withdraws His presence from you, and you just feel alone. So the dark night of the soul is very much a part of your grief journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Confidence in God\u2019s Timing<\/strong>. Father Solanus Casey &#8211; so he is now Blessed Solanus Casey &#8211; many of you probably know him. I knew him a long time ago when he was just barely a venerable. He\u2019s very, very near and dear to my heart because he lived in this diocese where I reside, where I live. He presided in this diocese. So Blessed Solanus Casey, something he\u2019s very, very well-known for is when he said \u201cThank God ahead of time.\u201d That\u2019s radical confidence in God, isn\u2019t it? So, thanking God ahead of time is about the knowledge that God always wants what\u2019s best for you, that He always answers our prayers in His time and in His way, and we feel a <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/choosing-joy-advent-2020\/\">joy<\/a> in that, and gratitude. So that\u2019s confidence in God\u2019s timing. You leave things up to Him as to when you\u2019re going to be healed, how you\u2019re going to be healed also.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And finally, <strong>The Wound of the Heart<\/strong>. This comes from the mystical saints like St. Padre Pio and St. Th\u00e9r\u00e8se of Lisieux. The wound of the heart also&#8230; St. Padre Pio called it the transverberation of the heart. The wound of the heart is that pain you feel in your heart, it\u2019s that dagger. It\u2019s like the prophecy of Simeon, \u201cAnd you yourself a sword shall pierce.\u201d That\u2019s what we feel when we grieve, isn\u2019t it? So grief, though, leads us to a deeper love for God and a deeper love for others. That\u2019s what suffering does to us, or can do, it\u2019s supposed to do that, and that\u2019s how it can transform us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-ast-global-color-8-color has-text-color\">I think it\u2019s important to remember in this journey of this retreat that you\u2019re making that healing comes in many forms. So, for instance, I still grieve because I will always have a daughter with this rare disease, it\u2019s never going to leave my family, it\u2019s never going to leave her. But I\u2019ve come to accept grief as part of my life, and I understand when it kind of emerges when I cry, or when I feel hopeless, or when I feel alone, it\u2019s just another way that God\u2019s tapping me on my heart and saying \u201cI want you to come back to Me Jeannie. I want you to turn to Me.\u201d And that\u2019s what He\u2019s inviting for you. You might be desperate for physical healing, <a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/inner-healing-emotional-healing-healing-2020\/\">emotional healing<\/a>, spiritual healing right now. What I can tell you right now is to hang on, because what God\u2019s building in your heart and into your life is going to radically transform you if you don\u2019t give up. If you persevere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That may not be the message you want to hear, but that\u2019s what I can offer you. Wherever you are in your journey, the Lord is entering your grief, entering your wound, and He\u2019s healing you in ways you can\u2019t feel yet, you don\u2019t see it yet, you might not hear it yet. But we have to reside in the knowledge that God always wants what\u2019s best for us, and He wants us to be whole. And so bring to Him your trust. That leads me to my prayer that I\u2019m going to end with for you now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"prayer-to-seek-truth\">Prayer to Seek Truth<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><em>In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. This is called \u201cPrayer to Seek Truth,\u201d and I wrote this prayer. Lord, help me to seek truth today &#8211; To find it in places and people I wouldn\u2019t otherwise notice. Teach me that in truth there is wisdom and understanding. May seeking truth help me overcome my fears and frustrations. Lord, help me to strive for truth in all that I do today &#8211; That my thoughts, words, and actions may reflect Your goodness. Show me that only in truth will I be free &#8211; To live honestly and courageously, to love wholeheartedly and unconditionally. Lord, help me to cherish truth &#8211; Knowing that You are the author of all that is beautiful, good, and true.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>May truth reign in my heart, no matter what I encounter today &#8211; Lies, mockery, confusion, betrayal. Your truth gives me clarity and peace. Lord, You created truth. You are Truth. Help me to know truth when I see it; Learn truth when I am taught it; Love truth, live truth. Help me to share truth with others today &#8211; Those who are lost and lonely, the brokenhearted and weary, anyone who is suffering from visible or invisible pain. When I am a son or daughter of truth, I am free to be fully alive, fully myself, and an honest reflection of You. Truth leads to greater knowledge, compassion, understanding, respect, charity, and excellence in all virtues. Truth strengthens me, guides me, leads me, protects me, keeps me. I am constant when I dwell in Your truth. I am unafraid of what I may face. I am vigilant and poised for speaking the witness of who You are in truth. Amen<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Remember friends, you were made for truth. Don\u2019t listen to the lies, don\u2019t listen to the lies that all is lost and all is gone. Remember, God loves you and He is with you, and live in that truth and the freedom of that truth. Thanks for joining me today.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\" id=\"about-jeannie-ewing\">About Jeannie Ewing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:32% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"310\" height=\"382\" src=\"http:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Jeannie-Headshot.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5061 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Jeannie-Headshot.png 310w, https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Jeannie-Headshot-243x300.png 243w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 310px) 100vw, 310px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/speaker-jeannie-ewing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jeannie Ewing<\/a><\/strong> is a Catholic spirituality writer and national speaker who focuses on moving through grief, the value of redemptive suffering, and how to wait for God\u2019s timing fruitfully. Her books include&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Navigating-Deep-Waters-Meditations-Caregivers\/dp\/1508441839\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Navigating Deep Waters,<\/a>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sophiainstitute.com\/products\/item\/from-grief-to-grace\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">From Grief to Grace<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Sea-Without-Shore-Reflections-Brokenhearted\/dp\/1513614614\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">A Sea Without A Shore<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Those-Who-Grieve-Companion-Faith\/dp\/1681923653\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">For Those Who Grieve<\/a>, and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/enroutebooksandmedia.com\/waitingwithpurpose\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Waiting with Purpose<\/a>. She is a frequent guest on Catholic radio and contributes to several online and print Catholic periodicals. Jeannie, her husband, and their three daughters (plus one baby boy) live in northern Indiana. For more information, please visit her website<a href=\"https:\/\/jeannieewing.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&nbsp;jeannieewing.com.&nbsp;<\/a>Follow Jeannie on social media:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jeannie.ewing.author\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Facebook<\/a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jeannieewing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">LinkedIn<\/a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jeannieewing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/The-Pray-More-Healing-Retreat-bottom-box.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1544\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Summary Jeannie talks about her personal experiences in grief and her journey to accept it and be at peace with it. She shares six spiritual principles on which we can reflect on and take to start our healing journey with grief to be closer to the Lord. She ends her talk with a prayer she [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5383,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","site-sidebar-layout":"no-sidebar","site-content-layout":"plain-container","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Six Spiritual Principles of Healing after Grief &amp; Loss - Healing 2019 - The Pray More Retreat<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/praymoreretreat.org\/six-spiritual-principles-of-healing-after-grief-loss-healing-2019\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Six Spiritual Principles of Healing after Grief &amp; Loss - Healing 2019 - The Pray More Retreat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Summary Jeannie talks about her personal experiences in grief and her journey to accept it and be at peace with it. 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