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

  • When Grief Knocks: Why Companionship Heals More Than Advice

    Grief companionship is a ministry of presence, not answers. Learn how to walk with the bereaved in emotionally honest, biblically grounded, and psychologically wise ways, with practical steps for churches, families, and friends. What hurting people need first: a companion, not a fixer When loss breaks into someone’s life, most of us reach for words;…

    Ze Selassie

  • When Grief Visits Home: A Pastoral Guide to Companionship, Comfort, and Courage

    Grief does not keep tidy hours. It arrives in delivery rooms where joy and exhaustion mingle, at kitchen tables strewn with homework and unpaid bills, and in sanctuaries where candles flicker beside a child’s photograph. As pastoral caregivers and Christian counselors, our calling is not to explain pain away but to accompany it; patiently, prayerfully,…

    Ze Selassie

  • 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

  • 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

  • Midlife and the Ministry of Grief: Turning Loss into Legacy

    Middle adulthood (roughly 35–65) is often described as the “middle miles” of life; the stretch where the road is long, the scenery changes, and our pace naturally shifts. Children launch, parents age, careers plateau or pivot, bodies speak a little louder, and our calendars fill with milestones we never imagined would carry so much ache.…

    Ze Selassie

  • When Adolescence Meets Grief: Companioning Identity in the Storm

    Grief doesn’t wait until adulthood to arrive. It often breaks into adolescence; the fragile, formative years when a young person is asking life’s biggest questions: Who am I? Where do I belong? What is my purpose? When loss collides with these questions, sorrow doesn’t just ache; it can unsettle identity, shake belonging, and confuse moral…

    Ze Selassie

  • Industry, Inferiority, and Grief: How the “Middle Years” Echo in Our Losses

    The ages of 6–12 can look ordinary from the outside; school days, team sports, spelling tests. But beneath the routine, a child is quietly asking life-shaping questions: Am I capable? Do I belong? Do my efforts matter? Erik Erikson called this the crisis of industry vs. inferiority: children are building competence through work, play, and…

    Ze Selassie