Sons of the Shepherd

Good Grief       One of my favorite cartoons growing up was "Peanuts."  Who couldn't fall in love with Snoopy as he battled the Red Baron, or the search for the Great Pumpkin, or the moment that Linus left his blanket behind to share the story of Christ's birth, or my personal favorite, the wonderful Thanksgiving meal including popcorn, toast, and jelly beans.  Charlie had a famous quote throughout the series, “Good grief!”  Charlie Brown said it so effortlessly—usually when life is a tangle of problems he didn't know how to solve. It’s a phrase we chuckle at, but it also carries a surprising truth: grief is tangled. It’s messy, confusing, frustrating, and exhausting.  Not only that, but it is an inescapable human experience.  And for many people, especially at Christmas, grief feels even heavier. Traditions feel different. Memories feel louder. The empty chair at the table seems to glow with its own painful spotlight.  The weight of loss se...