Oftentimes, after death, we are left waiting. Waiting for the grief to pass. Waiting for resolution. Waiting for answers to our questions: Why? When will it end? Why does it hurt so bad? 

Our temptation is to get through the waiting as quickly as possible, in order to find the comfort and resolution we seek. However, one of life’s greatest paradoxes is this: it is in the waiting that we become whole. It is in the paradoxes that our faith is forged. And it is in the seeking that we find. 

It’s a hard lesson to embrace the paradoxes, but one we must embrace on our spiritual journeys. When we learn to embrace ourselves, paradoxes and all, we truly - as Soren Kierkeegard says - can become ourselves, with God’s help. 

This week, I invite you into the waiting. I invited you into the paradoxes and questions of life, knowing that in each question, a lesson is just waiting to be found. And as we wait, may we always work for truth, and beauty, and for the common good. 

I invite you to be lean. 

Here, you will find two documents. One is Instructions for how to use the liturgy, and some more information on what it includes. The second is the liturgy for Week #2.