Remember the grieving at holiday time

COEUR d’ALENE — Lake City Church, 6000 N. Ramsey Road, is offering an opportunity for those who are hurting to take a moment to remember missing loved ones during the annual Ceremony of Remembrance at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Grief is a multi-faceted experience, said Joanie Dwyer, a pastoral care associate at Lake City. It can arise from many different losses, such as the death of a loved one, divorce, shattered dreams or unmet expectations.

“It doesn’t need to be treated as if it is a disease, but it does need to be faced for us to be able to heal,” she said. “When we examine what feelings make up grief, we find mad, sad, glad, scared, guilty, and all variations of those.”

When grieving people are given effective coping skills and new ways to process the feelings, healing can be found, she said.

“We are flooded with memories of loved ones on special days and holidays, especially this time of year,” Dwyer said. “The memories bring both joy and sadness for the loss, and the experience can leave us confused. We can carry opposite feelings at the same time. We are often overwhelmed; grief can be brutal.”

There are community resources that can help.

One is a Grief Release Workshop conducted by Dwyer and Karen Moglia, at the Kroc Center. The five-week program “presents an understanding of the experience of grief and tools to help people move through the pain of loss to heal their broken hearts.” Register at kroccda.org and the next session is Jan. 11 through Feb. 8.

Jarod Cooksey, pastoral care and discipleship pastor, will be the keynote speaker at the Ceremony of Remembrance.

“Sometimes our grief needs to be witnessed, collectively or individually,” Dwyer said. “Pain is inevitable, but misery is optional.”

Guests can participate in person or virtually. They will receive a free ornament and there will be music and the reading of loved ones' names.

Registration: Lakecity.church/events or (208) 676-0632