L.I.V.E. – Love Infinite, Vigorously Exercised

  • Companions on the Long Night: A Gentle Guide to Grief Companionship and Support

    Why “companionship” changes everything When someone we love is hurting, our reflex is to fix. But most grief doesn’t want a solution, it wants a witness. Grief companionship is the ministry of staying close: grounded, tender, and unhurried. It’s the practice of making room for tears and silence, helping with small practicals, and protecting the…

    Ze Selassie

  • When Love Listens Long: Grief Companionship Across Every Season of Adult Life

    Why Grief Companionship (Not Just “Counseling”) Matters Grief is a normal, holy, human response to change and loss. It shows up not only at funerals but at milestones, detours, and quiet disappointments. “Fixing” often backfires; companionship (steady, respectful presence) helps hearts metabolize pain into meaning. Grief companions don’t rush, rescue, or reduce; they remain. They…

    Ze Selassie

  • When Tears Teach Us: Practicing Grief Companionship on the Frontlines of Care

    Grief is not a problem to be solved, it’s a person to be honored. In crisis work, I’ve observed that the most transformative moments are not when we speak brilliantly, but when we stay faithfully. Presence, not perfection, is what helps a heart begin to breathe again. Walking alongside survivors of domestic violence, individuals navigating…

    Ze Selassie

  • Three Steps to Effective Grief Care: Presence, Practice, Praise

    When Development Meets Loss: A Pastoral Map for Grief Companionship Why Grief Needs Both Psychology and Theology Grief is more than pain to be reduced; it is love searching for a new way to live. Psychology helps us understand how people grow; cognitively, socially, morally, spiritually. Theology grounds us in a hope that does not…

    Ze Selassie

  • The Art of Presence: Supporting Grief with Compassionate Companionship

    Staying With the Sorrow: A Gentle Guide to Grief Companionship Excerpt: Grief rarely asks us for answers. It asks us for presence. The ministry is not to hurry people past their pain, but to sit with them long enough that hope can find its way back into the room. Why “companionship” and not “fixing” When…

    Ze Selassie

  • Grief Care Strategies: Presence, Practice, and Praise

    When Grief Needs More Than Answers: A Pastoral Pathway of Presence, Practice, and Praise Grief doesn’t ask for quick fixes; it asks for faithful company. As pastoral caregivers and grief companions, we are invited to sit in sacred spaces where words can feel too small and silence feels heavy, but holy. The aim is not…

    Ze Selassie

  • Supporting Grieving Children: A Compassionate Guide

    When Little Hearts Grieve: A Pastoral Guide to Gentle Companionship Grief doesn’t arrive with a map, it arrives with a person. And that person, whether three or thirty-three, needs presence more than perfection. As pastors, chaplains, counselors, and caring adults, we often meet grief in its most tender forms: a child who won’t sleep since…

    Ze Selassie

  • Healing Through Forgiveness in Grief

    Forgiveness as a Healing Practice in Grief: A Pastoral Guide for Companionship and Care In seasons of loss, forgiveness can become a quiet doorway to healing. This pastoral guide explores grief companionship through four promises of forgiveness, practical steps for families, and a ministry-of-presence approach grounded in Scripture. When grief enters a home, it rarely…

    Ze Selassie

  • Healing Hearts: A Guide for Pastoral Grief Support

    When Pastors Grieve: A Gentle Path for Grief Counseling and Grief Companionship A pastoral, research-informed guide to grief counseling and grief companionship; how churches can normalize lament, care for grieving hearts (including pastors), and cultivate sustainable rhythms of support and hope. Grief is not an interruption to ministry; it is the landscape we all eventually…

    Ze Selassie

  • Compassionate Care for Grieving Seniors: Best Practices

    Elders, Loss, and Love: A Grief Companion’s Guide to Walking with Late-Life Sorrow (Not Away From It) A pastoral, research-informed guide to grief companionship with older adults covering integrity vs. despair, wisdom over productivity, Kübler-Ross’ insights, grief vs. mourning, and practical steps churches and families can use to offer sacred presence. Introduction: When Presence Becomes…

    Ze Selassie