Healthy Grief

The Influence of Faith on Overcoming Grief By: (Name of student) (Course) (Date of Submission) Death, abandonment, rejection, and losing hope are some of the situations people usually do not want to experience in their lives. Being humans, people are vulnerable to these kinds of situation and susceptible to being trapped into a limbo of hopelessness and great despair. Grief is essential to the process of surviving the limbo though at times, some people fail to overcome the complicated state. Different people have different ways on overcoming their loss. The more important the loss people have, the more severe their grieving is (Westberg, 1997). The process also differs depending on the way an individual gives meaning to life and the things he or she has. One’s view about life and suffering is consequential to his or her attitude towards loss and the process of grief. Faith is one of the factors that may help people to recover faster from loss of someone and depression (Westberg, 1997). One’s spiritual upbringing can shape one’s attitude towards death and rejection. The way people give meaning and importance to their loved ones, to the material things they acquire, etc. has a significant role to one’s stance on death and loss. More often than not, the ones who have a better understanding of such matters can face problems more effortlessly than others. In Christian religion for instance, we can see how people with strong faith can overcome difficulties and loss through belief and trust in their God. One of the most popular stories in the Christian bible that discusses grief and faith is Job’s narrative about God’s test upon him (Job 1-42). In the story, Job’s faith in God was very strong that he was able to overcome the loss and difficulties faster than any other normal people. His belief in God’s will and power gave him hope and understanding of his situation. His faith comes first before anything else. In table 1, the process of understanding and accepting the terrible situation done by Job in light of his faith and trust in God is shown. In a book entitled On Death and Dying, Kübler-Ross (1969) discusses the stages which people normally undergo in the process of grieving. The five stages of grief include denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally, acceptance (Kübler-Ross, 1969). As we can observe, these stages are not experienced by Job in the story stated above. Acceptance seems to automatically become Job’s resort after he learned what happened to his property and loved ones. He did not experience anger nor depression. Although we cannot argue about the validity of the story, we can use it to see how faith and belief in God may help a person in overcoming grief and any related suffering. In table 1 and 2, comparison between Job’s experience and Kübler-Ross model is shown illustrating the physical, emotional and spiritual development Job and the relatively ‘normal’ people experience. Table 1: THE STORY OF JOB Physical Emotional Spiritual Initial (Knowing the situation: learning what happened to his family and property.) The physical body is not affected by the situation.  Recognizing that the situation is God’s will. He did not mourn for his loss. He did not blame anyone for anything.  Accepting the situation by believing that everything that happens is God’s will.  Transition (Understanding and accepting the situation.) The physical body is not affected by the situation (except when Job acquired an illness). Stayed faithful and strong-minded. He did not feel depressed for anything that happened even if his goodwill was questioned by his friends and other people around him. Accepting the situation by understanding God’s will. Recognizing the fact that everything he has is given to him by God and that anytime God can take back all of them. Final He became healthier than what he was before the tragedies.  Hopeful that God will forgive him and other people of their sins and lacking. More optimistic in life’s journey than before.  Trust God more than anything else. Realizing that God has plans for everything and that God is good.  Table 2: The Sta...