Grief & Grit

July 13, 2025

It’s been just over a week since the catastrophic flooding in the Texas Hill Country, and the stories of heartbreak and courage keep coming. We’ve been following it closely and feeling the weight of grief.

My relationship with grief has brought an expanded awareness of its different forms, from personal to collective. Empathy and shared humanity include the realization that we are not separate despite perceived differences. We belong to each other as we belong to God, the one Source of all life.

When disaster strikes, we see exceptional grit and grace demonstrated by the community. People from near and far respond with generosity, goodness, and selfless service. The best of humanity comes forth. This is what it takes to get through it and find hope, healing, and peace. We are reminded how much we need each other and how much we all have to give.

As we try to find our way through the grief, loss, and destruction, we also need to find a broader understanding of what happened and why. We know we cannot control Mother Nature, and yet we can find a better way to honor and care for her. How can we be better stewards of this precious planet and its abundant resources? We are connected to the earth as much as we are to our human family. We cannot hurt her without hurting ourselves.

Here is where another layer of grief hits me. The day before this disaster, Congress passed a massive bill that cuts environmental and clean energy programs along with disaster relief. This, on top of cutting essential healthcare and food assistance for low income families who are barely getting by already. Communities will be hit hard by these changes, and costs for everything will go up. We simply cannot separate ourselves from those who are most vulnerable. We will all pay the price.

As climate change intensifies and natural disasters increase, we are now less equipped to prepare and recover. Federal cuts to NOAA, NWS, and FEMA have already impacted states’ ability to prepare for extreme weather events. It happened right here in Texas as a critical meteorologist position was vacant due to federal cuts. There are many factors that contributed to this disaster, and the fact is, it could have been less catastrophic with the right people and systems in place to warn and evacuate the community.

When our grief activates our mind and body as well as our emotions, we find the grit to respond in a meaningful way. Grit involves courage, persistence, determination, and will. Grief accompanies us through every season, as I have learned, finding new ways to both strengthen and soften us. Grit and grace are the gifts I’ve received through adversity.

This year has brought a whole new level of grief and grit, both personally and collectively. We’ve seen people from all walks of life and every corner of the country come together to stand for democracy, humanity, and equality. The beauty of this is that it stands in sharp contrast to the message being delivered by the current administration that our neighbors are our enemies and cannot be trusted. The American president is deliberately sowing seeds of hate, fear, and division. This is not making America great.

Every day I wake up to the grief of seeing our country being weakened and torn apart. The things that matter to most of us are under attack - education, science, environment, equality, justice, freedom…. Instead of continuing to fund healthcare, food programs, clean energy, and other vital services, Congress chose to pour billions of dollars into fighting a false enemy by expanding ICE, building more detention centers and deporting more people. This hurts us all.

How can we respond with grit, recognize grace, and honor our grief? We must first find our peace and power within and take really good care of ourselves. Then, find joy and connection wherever we can. Love is greater than hate, and it will awaken the best in us and our country when we let it show us the way.

Rise & Shine,

ej