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WHEN A MARRIAGE ENDS. The end of a marriage and loss of a spouse, whether by death, separation or divorce, is one of the greatest catastrophes a person can experience. Hopes and plans for the future, friends, financial security, even an important part of a person’s self esteem are often swept away in the deluge, leaving them feeling stigmatised and full of shame. The ripples of this profound loss reach every corner of their lives, crippling them as they attempt to find order and purpose in their lives. Caring family and friends struggle to know how to help their loved ones deal with this grief. But the Grief Journey following the loss of a spouse is a very lonely one. The trauma of grief applies whether the loss if through separation, divorce or death. The people suddenly find themselves in the strange and terrible Land of Grief, a foreign place. As the world continues at its normal pace around them, they seem rooted to the spot, engulfed in a wave of sadness, not really interested in anything, often even sleepless.
Like
all strange places we pass through, the Land of Grief has a map.
A major part of this is the Beginning
Experience. This is not
like anything you have ever been involved in before. It provides an opportunity and a way to work through grief
and to find life again.
Beginning
Experience is an international peer ministry for separated, divorced and bereaved
spouses and their children. It
enables them to work through the grief of the loss of their spouse and the
end of their marriage. They
can be healed of the pain and come out of the black tunnel, pick up the
pieces of their lives, put them together and begin to live again.
They can be free to love themselves, other people, and God again. Beginning Experience runs Weekends and Weekly Support Programmes throughout the year. These are held in:
Young
people’s Beginning Experience for 12 to 18 year olds is held in Derry
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