The long lost art of lament
Sitting with young people in their grief
Grief and sadness often makes those nearby uncomfortable, and it’s even more awkward when young people are caught the flurries of despondency and pain.
Caleb Roose has an excellent two-part series on the FYI blog that talks about how we can empathise and sit with young people in their grief as they process it, and support them in their important time of lament.
He points out in his first post how is important to educate our young people about grief, reminding them there is plenty of examples in the bible where people struggled with loss and lament. He reminds us lament is not a sign of weakness – it’s an extraordinary act of faith.
In the second entry he offers some practical ideas we can use that draw young people in – either in a time of corporate or individual loss – including the timely reminder than in processing loss and lament that it is important to keep moving toward vulnerability.
Overall, the most important factor was to encourage young people to participate in their grief and not to box it off as though it can be paused or left unprocessed.
Everything we can do to help young people engage in a deeper posture of discipleship, including during times of grief and loss, will help them as they grow to be more like Jesus.
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Molk is the Young Adult Ministry Lead and Senior Field Officer (North) within the PULSE team
