Category: Grief & Loss
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Dim the Light and Still the Clamor
During a difficult holiday season, I read a devotional by the Rev. Quinn G. Caldwell called “Smoor,” referencing the practice of covering a fire with ashes before bed. He suggested that this banking of the fire might also be a good practice for the spirit in times of grief. This piece is appropriate for a…
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My God, I Am A Harrowed Land
“for in Love’s field was never found / a nobler weapon than a wound.” A biography of St. Theresa of Avila brought me to this quote from Richard Cranshaw’s poetic tribute to her. The quote stayed with me for months, demanding exploration. Times of great loss can lead us into retreat and calcification; and they…
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Bless What Is Breaking
Some of the holiest moments I have experienced while hymn writing have been when I consider a deeply personal and painful experience and try to imagine how it might be of service to a singing congregation. In this case — just as with one of my earliest pieces, “I Know God Holds You” — the…
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What Shall We Cry?
How do we live with faith and joy in a world that holds death and suffering? This problem has long troubled theologians but is not always honestly addressed by the church. I give thanks for those who have taken up the work of struggling with this issue today including Kate Bowler and my seminary classmate…
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Let There Be Rest
This hymn began as an exploration of the commandment to rest and to ensure rest for the people, animals, and land around us. I was inspired by ongoing conversations about rest as an issue of justice including the work of Tricia Hersey, the “Nap Bishop,” who teaches that rest can be both resistance and reparation.…
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We Remember Hands that Tend
This song began with an interest in the woman who anointed Jesus before his death. While her action was shocking to some, Jesus says that she will be remembered for it. I then began to think of all the people who give compassionate care for human bodies, in birthing and dying, in youth and in…
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I Know God Holds You
My journey towards parenthood was not as difficult as it is for many, and it was still marked by grief and fear. Along the way I had two miscarriages, losses that were hard to grapple with. Few people knew about them. I had never been taught how to grieve them, or what to believe about…
Hannah C Brown 