Liz Cooledge Jenkins

Tag: grief

  • Epiphany prayer

    I wrote a prayer based on what I’ve heard six different elders share at church these last couple Sundays. Thought I’d share it here too. The prompt was something like this: What epiphany have you had recently (that is, what do you feel like God has revealed to you), and what are you doing with…

  • Advent prayer: Release

    A poem/prayer, reflecting on the theme “release.” I’ve been reading an indigenous memoir called The Woman Who Watches Over the World, by Linda Hogan. One of the things Hogan says happened when she was in the hospital recovering from a traumatic brain injury was that she asked all the questions that had gone unasked and…

  • Reflections on 20 years of friendship

    A close friend from high school passed away unexpectedly in an accident the Sunday before last, and I’ve been thinking about them a lot. I sat down a few days ago and wrote what turned out to be over 5000 words of memories and reflections on their life and our friendship.  I’ll spare you the…

  • Super chill book review: Bittersweet (Susan Cain)

    I tore through Susan Cain’s new book Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Can Make Us Whole (Crown 2022) pretty quickly. And I may have done so while referring to it as “my emo book” for short.  “Delightful” may seem an odd word for a book that’s all about being sad, but I really did find…

  • Fourth grade child, crucified

    Processing the grief and horror of the school shooting in Uvalde, TX with a poem. God, have mercy. Fourth Grade Child, Crucified Fourth grade child on the cross, you did not choose this. There is nothing in you nor your family, friends, or schoolmates that deserved this. All forever changed without consent. Where was Christ…

  • Lament Wall Prayer

    At the beginning of Lent, a team of people from my church put up an amazing “Lament Wall” in the courtyard. People were invited to write down prayers and laments on pieces of paper and stick them in the cracks of the wall. Prayers written during church services were stuck in there, joined later by…

  • Prayer: prepare

    I wrote this prayer back in Advent, but it feels about right for the last week or so. Grieving for and with those most impacted by violence, by power moving through our world in perverse ways. The original Advent prompt word was “prepare.” Prepare God, the weight of the world is still here. I know…

  • A prayer for 2022

    I wrote this new year prayer for my church community and thought I’d share it with you all as well. (Hopefully six days in isn’t too late to still feel like it’s a very very new year.) I also have two links to offer. The first is a piece on Trumpism and some of Jesus’…

  • Place of Manna, Place of Silence (a Good Friday poem)

    This poem sits somewhere at the intersection of Jesus’ crucifixion on Good Friday, and George Floyd’s murder at the hands of Derek Chauvin, and the reflective wilderness-themed space currently set up in the sanctuary at my church. Place of Manna, Place of Silence Wilderness spaces forlorn places take a rock  and toss it in the…

  • I Do Not Wish to Perform My Grief

    A poem reflecting on George Floyd’s murder, the subsequent protests, and my hope to stand in solidarity with my Black siblings in their weariness, grief, and anger. I Do Not Wish to Perform My Grief I do not wish to perform my grief as if it could be part of a persona crafted carefully to…