Skip to main content

Grief and Blessings

"The Blessing of Tears"

by Eleanor Cowles

The Upper Room, March-April 2021

 



“When I think of God’s blessings, I think of family, friends, sunshine, or even my morning cup of coffee. Until recently, I never considered tears a blessing. … As we walk through life, we often miss blessings hidden in calamities. But while tears can blur our vision, they can also clarify our sight to reveal new truths. Perhaps we can see our way to reach out to someone in pain I believe when we have walked through pain and grief, we may be the path – and there our tears can meet. Truly, tears can be God’s blessing for this life.”


CONTENTS

 click the title to go to the article


Nourishing Faith

Adult Class: Joy, Grief, Prayers, “Slum Songs” 

Devotional 2021: Hope in the Wilderness

Pastor Appointment: Sorrow, Blessing, Faith

Pastor’s Column: God’s Time, God’s Plan

 

Welcoming All

New Meditation Room: Welcome Peace

Virtual Mission u 2021

Toy Library Transitions to WWW

United Methodist Women Virtually Active

Racial Justice: Book Club and Spiritual Work

 

Doing Good 

South Minneapolis Meals on Wheels Delivering Smiles

United Methodist Women in the Mission Field

 

BEing Church

Keep Breathing and Abide

Messages: Thank You and Christmas Greetings

Nancy, Tiffany, and Iza: Happy to be Home

Sorrow, Loss, Memories

 

Faith Stories

Wanda Curry: You Never Know the Hour

Shirley Durr: Faith Like a River



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Messages

Thank you and Christmas greetings Because we were not meeting for worship at church, the Echoes Editorial Board did not get to church to see the cards, letters, notes, and Christmas greetings Epworth received last Fall and during the holiday season. However, we still want to share them with you. The Christmas letters are too long to print here in their entirety but we share some excerpts with you below.   Dear Epworth Community, It wasn’t possible to enlist enough members to safely put down much and do extensive weeding this year so instead the Garden Club is making a donation. The club would not be thriving without your generous support. We were able to plant some iris, perennials and weed the rain garden. Thank you so much. Stay well, stay safe. Longfellow Garden Club Claire, Martha, Julia, Terri & Bev     We are so proud of your ministry and are so happy to be part of it!   Dennis & Gail [Alexander]     Sending my love to everyone at church. Caro...

Welcome peace in new Meditation Room

Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. - Matthew 5:4 By Nancy Meisel Youngman Would you like a safe place to pause, reflect, grieve, meditate, pray?  A space has been created for that purpose.  Our Epworth nursery has been cleaned, recarpeted, and transformed into a meditation room. Although we may well have need for a nursery in the future, we are using this space as a quiet meditation room for now. We have also started a grief support library. The books are available to read or browse through while in this quiet space. There will be prayer request cards in the room if you choose to fill one out. Our hope is that this space will help you feel surrounded by God’s love and God’s peace which passes all understanding.