"I have come to have a deep faith in grief, have come to see the way its moods call us back to soul. It is, in fact, one of the voices of the soul, asking us to face life's most difficult but essential teaching: everything is a gift, and nothing lasts. This is a painful truth.... When we acknowledge grief, we acknowledge that everything we love, we will lose. No exceptions." — Francis Weller, The Wild Edge of Sorrow
Drawing on her experiences of simple and powerful ritual in her own life's apprenticeship with sorrow, Rev. Solveig Nilsen-Goodin is accompanying us through a six-month series on the sacred work of grief (the first Wednesday of each month, September through February). This Wednesday, through reflection and guided meditation, she opened space for us to encounter the painful truth that "everything we love, we will lose."
If you missed the September 2 gathering or would like to watch it again, you may access that recording here. The Sacred Work of Grief, Part 1: Rituals of Renewal.
Solveig Nilsen-Goodin offers spiritual direction and coaching, as well as support and accompaniment for leaders, activists, organizers, healers, and anyone longing to "heal-the-whole" on any level. Grounded in a liberative Christian faith, Solveig also brings experience with shamanic healing, wisdom from Buddhist teachings, and a deep appreciation for indigenous worldviews and all life-giving spiritualities and faith practices. She is committed to practices that cultivate courage and joy, deep-feeling and open-heartedness, humility and fierceness, tenacity and imagination in the struggle for healing and wholeness. Solveig received her Master of Divinity degree from Harvard Divinity School in 1994, where she studied feminist liberation biblical interpretation. She was ordained in the Lutheran Church (ELCA) in 1996 and received her certificate in the Art of Spiritual Direction from Namasté with Sister Pat McCrann in 1997. Since then, Solveig has been a spiritual director and grief ritual leader; pastor of a Lutheran Church and founding pastor of the Wilderness Way Community; climate justice activist / organizer / teacher and leadership coach through EcoFaith Recovery; as well as an author and musician who LOVES dancing, Zumba, and reading. She is currently interim pastor/spiritual director for Salt and Light Lutheran Church/Leaven Community and is working toward her Professional Coaching Certification (PCC) focusing on accompanying people in the many ways we experience death and grief throughout our lives. With her family, Solveig co-authored the book For Everything A Season: 75 Blessings for Daily Life (also published as For Everything A Season: 75 Blessings for Life's Milestones).
