Broken Open: Suffering into Grace
 

This tape helped me come to terms with the death of a loved one. This speaker makes some wonderful points (this tape is the recording of a seminar before an audience, and it is interspersed with music provided by a man playing the flute). He mentions that it is a form of violation to make people talk about things before they are ready to (i.e., trying to make people "come out of their shell"). Having spent quite a bit of time among people in recovery, I have found that this can often be the case: if people are not ready to talk about something, they must be "repressing" it and need to be given incentive to talk. This is a form of violation. Not everyone wants to talk about things at the same rate others do.

Wayne Muller makes a call for perspective. He says to keep in mind that while many of us have suffered, we have not been given Hiroshima, Aushwitz, Rwanda, etc. In Mr. Muller's words, "What did I get? ....weird parents."

The speaker suggests that rather than letting our pain and losses make us close down, we can use them to help us open up to others. Hence, the name of the tape: BROKEN OPEN. We can let a tragedy "break" us open into a deeper experience of compassion for others.

I gave this tape to my friend Mary Jean as a way to help her cope with the loss of her friend, "Kit." Mary Jean said that she found this tape to be very helpful.