Grieving

June 23, 2002 on 9:49 am | In Miscellaneous Musings! | Comments Off

                                                                          

                                                                                                      June 23, 2002

 Grieving

Whenever we meet to offer a prayer for the dear departed one for a member of our Pembroke-Deep River Indian family, we (each one of us) mentally journey back to the memories of our own loved ones whom we lost before. 

Whenever we meet to offer a prayer for the dear departed one for a member of our Pembroke-Deep River Indian family, we (each one of us) mentally journey back to the memories of our own loved ones whom we lost before. 
The traditional native sharing circle of First Nations Community in Red Lake, Ontario is, I feel, a right process for us to emulate which will help us to heal more and revive good memories of our loved ones. This process I came to know from an article (Cultural Exchange P. 31) in the Summer 2002 Imperial Oil Review magazine. 

The participants would gather around in a circle and pass a stone from one to another. When a person held the stone, it was his or her turn to speak or simply to reflect in silence – no one else talk.  The powerful thoughts and feelings shared by participants during these moments become a healing and comforting tonic.

For the stone, I have brought a real piece from the demolition of Berlin Wall in 1990 (a gift brought by Bill Taylor of Deep River for me). This stone represents freedom, let go of fear, guilt or other emotions, looking forward to healthy and useful future and how to share happiness and comfort to others.

The fresh flowers from our garden represent the continuity of life and freshness of this life every day. 
Prayers (when grieving) bring out personal incidents of our own individual losses. Sometimes painful and acute reminder of the comfort and security we received from our loved ones and many times the wonderful nostalgic memories.
This forum, I hope would help to liberate many of us from the silent suffering from the loss of our loved ones and also to remind us how lucky and fortunate we are to have shared our lives with these loved ones.

Pravin Shah