Scripture speaks of people changing in a twinkling of an eye. When we experience a traumatic event in our life, we in similar fashion are inextricably changed forevermore. What will this change be like? I do not know, nor do you until you are personally involved in your own individual loss. You see grief, like our loss is unique and individual to ourselves. This change reminds me of the writing of Edgar Allan Poe’s, “Raven.” Within this lovelorn poem he wrote, “…sorrow for the lost Lenore – Nameless here for evermore.”
As we read we realize that he has sought in vain to surcease his sorrow – “sorrow for the lost Lenore -- For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—Nameless here for evermore.” He has even delved into his library of “forgotten lore” in his attempt to forget his sorrow. Traumatic loss changes us to our very core. The example of this poem is negative. The character is not coping well at all with his changed life status. As a matter of fact, it is generally agreed he continued to descend into madness.
No I am not saying we have this to look forward to. Thankfully, no one has as yet shared the depth of despair that could not be triumphed and overcome. There are coping skills most of us posses, that will enable us to achieve peace and acceptance in our changed world. Our first step is to accept our change. Embrace the responsibilities that are expected and demanded of us in our new life. Secondly, begin to rebuild your life. In the movie, The Ultimate Gift, the elderly grandfather is explaining to his grandson, after losing everything several times that it is the perfect place in which to begin. You may feel this way, that life as you know it is over. What better place then, in which to ‘begin anew?’ This is Sunrise.
