Grieving in Absence

Imagine this scenario: you have been looking after a sick friend. All of a sudden you, yourself, fall ill and then fall in a coma. While you are in the coma your friend dies and it is not until days after the funeral has taken place that you wake up from the unconsciousness. Where do you start in bridging the gap between the wrold as you knew it before the coma and the world after you wake up? What if your minister messes up in trying to break the bad news of what has happened during your unconsciousness? And where is God in all this?  (...)

Theological Colleges generally prepare women and men for the ministry by teaching them the academic subjects: different theologies and methodologies  for enquiry and theological reflection on what they find in the community. For those who are being prepared for preaching and pastoral ministry, they learn how to communicate the Good News of the love of God and His unceasing transforming power. But they are rarely taught how to communicate the bad news. Margaret's story and the way one of her ministers broke the news of the death of her friend is a compelling argument that knowing how to break bad news is probably more challenging than communicating good news. Should training institutions preparing men and women for the ministry take another look at their prospectus?