Over the last decade I have worked as an addictions

counselor, provided mental health assessment diagnosis and service planning in a community mental health setting, sat at the bed of the dying, offered grief support to individuals and families, walked with people through mental health breaks, suicide attempts, and bad news, and also celebrated the moments of hope and meaning as they have emerged. I have learned from every person I have encountered in this work and these encounters have made me a person of deep faith. My faith is not in a particular worldview or dogma, but in the sacred capacity within all of us to survive unbelievable pain, and not only survive, but find hope, meaning, and purpose on the other side.