Al is a Licensed Spiritual Practitioner with Centers for Spiritual Living where he works with individuals providing guidance and clarity of life’s circumstances.
Grief and Loss
A Sacred, Loving Space to Companion and Witness Each Other on the Healing Journey
Grief and Loss
We offer a sacred, loving space to companion and witness each other on the healing journey. We recognize that grief and loss are natural parts of the human experience. We acknowledge that grief comes in many forms.
“Grief is the conflicting feelings caused by the end or change in a familiar pattern of behavior.”
~Grief Recovery Method
- What we believe about grief and loss impacts how we respond to grief when it shows up.
- What we believe, and how we respond to emotions and change impact how we move through or experience grief and life.
“A broken heart is also an open heart… The pain of losing [something] you love is part of life, but suffering doesn’t have to be.”
~ You Can Heal your Heart, by Louise Hay and David Kessler
Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash
There are many kinds of loss, including death, relationships, work, roles, trust, faith, sense of safety, stability, routines, stuff, etc. It could be the purchase or sale of property, graduation from school, or any change from the familiar.
Loss is what happens when change occurs. Change is always happening as part of the human experience, and the experience of each change brings up different feelings and emotions. We may feel any emotion or feeling on the spectrum. We can choose what we think and believe about grief and loss. We can heal and thrive.
What We Offer
Grief takes us to the top of the hill, and then lets us walk back down slowly, peacefully
~ Ritual: Power, Healing, and Community, by Malidoma Patrice Somé
Photo by Artem Sapegin on Unsplash
Gatherings, rituals and events such as listening circles, allow for the body and emotions to “catch up” with the Self while being in the transformative energy of Love, within community. (Check our calendar for events)
Listening with the Heart: Sacred Listening Circles
This is a sacred, loving space to companion and witness each other on the healing journey. We recognize that grief and loss are natural parts of the human experience. We acknowledge that grief comes in many forms. Therefore, we offer a container of love to hold space for healing in a supportive community. We meet each other right where we are, and love each other into our greatest good. Join us at 4-6PM on the second Saturday of each month, here.
Prayer and Coaching
Prayer and Spiritual Coaching support individuals to explore grief and loss from a spiritual perspective, move through pain, and open to Healing and Wholeness.
We also offer special events, workshops, and other healing experiences
Photo by Christian Buehner on Unsplash
Reconciliations
They arrive—big griefs, small losses,
collections, assortments of traumas
building up in momentum and size
in rooms of unexplored memory.
Detectives of our own hearts we must find,
feel and name them, ask what they need
and oblige their necessary requests or—grief
will devour, lodge heavy in our bodies.
The dead will help, they have nothing to resolve,
freed and available, we are their legacy.
Continuing their soul journey, they respond
to us offering fortitude, wisdom, lived joy.
They leave for us their completions.
They leave for us what is yet to be done—
confusions to be untangled, burdens passed
generation to generation to be laid down.
The work of the living is to heal ourselves
to recast the errors of past with Truth’s gold
in the privacy of our interior sanctuary and
in the loving embrace of trusted community.
Don’t be afraid to wail, we are always held.
To fulfill ourselves, we must first become empty.
Kimberly Satterfield, RScP
October 2020
Ongoing Events
Listening with the Heart is held monthly, on every Second Saturday:
In this interactive circle, we deepen our understanding of grief and loss, and move through grief experiences within a healing community space.
Meeting ID: 934 4134 2256
Passcode: Listen
A Day of Remembrance
We remember and honor our ancestors and loved ones who have transitioned.
Additional Resources
Prayer or spiritual counseling sessions:
Prayer Support
Spiritual Practitioners
Spiritual Coaching
World Ministry of Prayer
Silent Unity Prayer
Books and Articles
You Can Heal Your Heart by Louise Hay and David Kessler
The Grief Recovery Handbook by John W. James and Russell Friedman
Article, Embracing Grief, by Sobonfu Some
The Spirit of Intimacy by Sobonfu Some
The Healing Wisdom of Africa by Maildoma Some
Bearing the Unbearable by Joanne Cacciatore
The Courage to Grieve by Judy Tatelbaum
Alan Wolfelt’s books
Crisis Support
Call 211 for non-emergency social, health and government services
Suicide Prevention Hotline 1-800-273-8255
Meet Our Team
Practitioner
Carol Johnson Williams, RScP
Carol has been an EBCRS Practitioner since 2000.
Practitioner
Helen Anderson RScP, Emerita
Helen Anderson, RScP is a spiritual practioner emeritus at East Bay Church of Religious Science and is currently available to see clients.
Practitioner
KSuzanne Massey, RScP, Emerita
KSuzanne has been a licensed Practitioner in Centers for Spiritual Living for nearly 20 years. KSuzanne’s life has been transformed through the teachings of Science of Mind.
Practitioner
Rev. Ona Afrae
Ona has been an EBCRS Practitioner since 2009. After witnessing several transitions of young adult family members, Ona has actively sought out coping strategies to comfort the loss of children. “Grief can be paralyzing, yet the healing of God is more powerful than any experience”.
Practitioner
Rosana Martinez, RScP
Rosana Martinez, RSCP has been a Practitioner since 2007. What I do know is there is no time in grief. If I don’t share my stories with someone the silence may harm me and/or affect my “Relations.”
Practitioner
Sandee Dennis, RScP
Sandee Dennis, RSCP — Participating in the healing of others serves as a healing force in my own life. Grief is a unifying force as it is an experience that each of us will encounter on this side of the mortal coil.