Hope ‘n Grief- Easter
By Samantha Woo, LCSW, Certified Anxiety Therapist
Posted: April 12, 2020
Today many Christians all over the world celebrate Easter, a day to celebrate the Resurrection.
It is a time to hope, and look forward to new life.
This hope is much needed right now in the age of Covid-19, with the toughest week for the USA so far, in terms of loss of life. And many are eager to usher in all forms of hope to replace the gray reality of social distancing and the domino effect of loss it has created in the economy, and life in general. And we are all united in that hope.
And yet, I heard a preacher today who pointed out that without the acceptance of death, there can be no resurrection. He pointed to the fact the first person to the tomb of Jesus Christ for the resurrection was the very one who was the first to accept his coming death while everyone else around him was “in denial”.
I wonder about the acceptance of this reality. I hear various voices from zoom groups. Some resenting the government officials, as they have to decide what bill to pay, and feel the rug has been pulled from under them. Others feeling there is some conspiracy. While others are saying “don’t waste this crisis”, and hoping to have an impact.
So much of the mental health journey is the difficulty in “acceptance” of “current reality”. Even before Covid-19. All of Anna Freud’s defense mechanisms, as well as other odd behaviors are mostly our human way of averting or converting the “unacceptable” experience for our system, whether it is the emotions, the memories, the triggers, the fears. And so this “acceptance” is a complicated thing. But as we endeavor to “accept” the current reality of the “death” part of Easter, we can simultaneously hold on to the “hope”. The two seem inextricably tied somehow, and do not have be mutually exclusive.
Here is to both acceptance of grief and hope. They can both help usher in the new. Happy Easter.
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