Well, we are back.

My name is Bethany Allen, and I'm one of the leaders here at Bridgetown.

If you missed any of our transition podcasts, I'd invite you to go back and listen to

it, as so much of what we covered there is integral to best understanding grief and loss,

particularly for our moment.

Now for time's sake, we're going to just jump right in, but before we get to the content,

a few thoughts.

First I want to be clear in saying that I am not a therapist, nor the daughter of a therapist,

nor am I an expert on grief and loss.

It's something I've studied and have walked through myself, but I am no expert, and I know

the dangers of assuming expertise.

The hope I have here is simply to provide some language and helpful identification to the

current moment and experience so many of us are having.

My dream is that we would come out of this space, more transformed and more integrated,

and agents in the kingdom of God.

Next, I think it's healthy for us to acknowledge that so many of us are currently in a shift,

a shift from shock to grief.

As I talked about on the last podcast, adrenaline, for most, is settling, and we now have an

opportunity to begin to process what has and is happening.

There is a measure of acceptance.

I think happening really for us, communally, or even globally, we are accepting that the

world as we knew it is no longer here, that our lives as we knew them have and will continue

...