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Creation and grief

Lynne Baab • Friday August 28 2026

Creation and grief

Next Tuesday is a remarkable day, the newly declared ecumenical Feast of Creation in Christ. I thought, should I take a break from my series on grief to write about how excited I am that Christians all over the world see the creation as central to their spirituality?

No. God’s creation plays an important role in the grief process. Here are some connections. 

Nature as comfort. In my grief groups and in talking with widows, numerous people have talked about how important walking, gardening, and other ways of engaging with nature have been for them as they grieve. Pets, our fellow creatures, are companions and a solace. Birds lift our spirits.

In my grief group this week, I asked the other participant and the social worker what role they think nature plays in healing from grief. The other participant, who lost her husband early in 2026, said, “Nature is almost the best healing I get.” She mentioned a whale watching trip she went on by herself, in her courageous effort to learn how to go on outings alone. The whales, water, and beauty soothed her soul.

She also loves her garden, which she considers to be an oasis. She’s living in her mother-in-law’s house that she and her husband inherited only months before he passed. They placed her mother-in-law’s ashes under the tree where her husband proposed to her. She loves to stand in that place, enjoy the memories, feel their spirits with her, and soak up the beauty of the garden her mother-in-law created. She said, “Bees, herbs, bunnies . . . so healing. Nature gives us a leveling experience, a sense of belonging and connection.”

Nature tells us we are part of something greater than ourselves. The timeless perspective and connectedness that nature brings to us are soothing and healing. In my recent grief group, the social worker said that nature helps us see and feel that “there’s something greater than myself. Trees, sun, wind, all of them in motion, say that I’m connected to something bigger. Nature was there long before us, and it will be there long after we are.”

Nature speaks to us of God’s beauty. Death can feel ugly, scary, and pretty much the worst thing in the world. God is still beautiful. Nature tells us about God’s beauty through flowers, leaves, clouds, sunsets, rivers, lakes, ocean waves, and yes, pets. As we try to hold grief in one hand and gratitude in the other, the beauty of nature — reflecting God’s beauty — gives us something to put in the gratitude hand.

This new festival speaks of the church around the world. I loved what an article in Christian Century says about this new festival:

“This is the first truly ecumenical feast — appearing in both Eastern and Western church calendars — since the fourth century. While worldwide ecological concerns lay behind the impetus for this project, it is not another Earth Day. It is a Christological festival.” [1]

Christians support each other in grief, fueled by Jesus's deep love, creative power, and compassionate heart. We are not alone. We are part of a human family and a family of faith. Our shared holidays and feast days are a sign of our connectedness. I hope that if you are grieving about anything, God is giving you people who grieve with you. People all around the world deal with sadness and grief. Some of it is focused on damage to creation. We grieve with the whole church worldwide and with people of faith throughout time. And we rejoice in our beautiful, merciful God. 

Scriptures for the Feast of Creation in Christ

I want to give you the scriptures for 2026 assigned to this feast, in case you’d like to read them. And here’s the website for the feast.

Creator God, the Apostle Paul tells the Athenians that in you, “we live and move and have our being.” Speak to us through your creation, we pray. Remind us of your beauty, creativity, and eternity, as well as our connection to all that you have made. Heal our wounds and sadness, lift our hearts, and heal whole beings, heart, soul, mind, and body.

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Next week: More about my grief journey.  Illustration by Dave Baab: Seymour Botanic Garden, Wright Park, Tacoma, Washington.

Related posts:

A new book of Dave’s watercolors is here. You can buy cards, T-shirts, bags and other items with Dave’s watercolors on them here.

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[1] Frank C. Stern, “September 1, Feast of Creation in Christ,” The Christian Century, September 2026, 24.



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