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Honouring our grief as a community
“In the dark times
Will there be singing?
There will be singing
of the dark times.”
— Bertolt Brecht, Svendborg Poems, II
Bertolt Brecht (1889-1956) was a German playwright and poet. He fled Nazi Germany and later became a Hollywood screenwriter. In one collection of poems, he wrote the motto above. It was written in Svendborg, Denmark, where he first fled from the rise of Nazi Germany. His words remind us that though we did not choose to live in these times, we can choose how we respond to them.
Every age has its darkness, but in a time of climate chaos, heartbreaking warfare and political uncertainty, many of us are feeling the weight of anxiety and anticipated grief. Walking the halls of our university between classes or meetings, we wonder what good might come of our disciplines, our research, our reading, our lives. In the coming months some of us will make plans, New Year’s resolutions, earn degrees and find jobs. And yet, each step carries a hesitation, a whisper that the times are too hard for our lives to matter. We wonder at a future that feels less and less certain.
For others, people we love have slipped from view. Parents, siblings, friends or non-human companions have died; cherished relationships have ended; jobs or careers or imagined pathways have turned out differently than we planned. We worry about wildfire, violent storms, species extinctions, deforestation, drought. Sometimes it feels almost too much to bear.
It is no wonder we are afraid of facing our grief. But Brecht reminds us, in dark times there should be singing about dark times. “This is how the heart makes a duet of wonder and grief,” writes the poet Mark Nepo in his poem Adrift. “I am so sad and everything is beautiful.”
This is because grief touches something deep inside of each of us that dares to be named hope and love and "yes, I will keep going." This is because to honour our grief is not to give in but to live on. To honour our grief is to let the seeds we have buried rise rooted in the loamy soil of these dark times and to grow. And like a forest, we cannot grow in isolation.
So, what if Simon Fraser University was a place where we didn’t feel like we had to hide our grief? What if as a community we honoured our losses, our pain and our uncertainties?
Tuesday, November 19th is National Grief and Bereavement Day and the Ecological Chaplaincy Program is hosting a gathering to honour our personal, political and ecological grief.
We will also be hosting a table in the northeast corner of the AQ with resources. Stop by our table from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on November 20th through the 22nd. Write a letter to your loss. Honour your beloved with a photograph and candle. And take a blue ribbon with you to show that we don’t have to hide our grief, and that grief is a way of loving ourselves, our community and the future even during times of uncertainty.
Resources for grief and bereavement
- SFU Ecological Chaplaincy Discord
- BC Grief and Bereavement Helpline: Visit their website or call 604-738-9950; toll free 877-779-2223
- MySSP 24/7 crisis support: 833-768-2188
- Staff and faculty support: lesjames_reimer@sfu.ca
- Counselling Rapid Access appointment: 778-782-4615
- Indigenous Counselling Services: iscwell@sfu.ca