Grief and Rest: Writing Your Way Through Loss with Audri Svay

In this Faith in Process Sunday’s Cool conversation from Pleasant Valley Church of the Brethren in Weyers Cave, Virginia, Pastor Harry Jarrett welcomes returning guest Audrey Svay. Audrey is an ordained minister in the Church of the Brethren, a professional writing consultant, and an adjunct English professor, and she brings both pastoral wisdom and practical writing tools to the question so many of us are living right now: how do we carry grief with honesty, and still find rest?Together, Harry and Audrey widen the definition of grief beyond death to include less visible losses like shifts in belief, changing communities, aging, retirement, and the quiet ache of losing roles and identity. They explore why many of us hesitate to name these losses as grief, and how our values can get tangled up in the roles we once held.Audrey offers a gentle framework of “grief and rest” held in harmony, using the image of waves that come in and recede. You will hear concrete Sabbath practices for real life, including journaling to release what you are carrying, creating a simple ritual of “trust,” small daily moments of restoration, and writing exercises like letters you do not have to send. Harry reflects on the often overlooked Holy Saturday pause between Good Friday and Easter morning, and why that day matters when we are learning to live faithfully through loss.Mentioned in this episode Audrey’s book: Between You and Me (available at Brethren Press)Segment guide with timestamps00:00 Welcome and introduction to Audrey Svay00:03 What counts as grief: roles, identity, and less visible losses00:07 Why rest and Sabbath matter for grief processing00:09 Practical Sabbath in grief; Luke 23 and the forced pause of rest00:11 Writing practices for sleep, trust, and letting go00:13 The cup metaphor; why rest belongs on the to-do list00:18 Holy Saturday and the blessing of the pause00:21 Community, listening, and telling the grief story00:25 Poetry, letters, and honest writing as grief work00:31 Retirement, identity, and the body keeping score00:35 Closing encouragementFaith in Process: Sunday’s CoolRecorded live on Sunday mornings at Pleasant Valley Church of the Brethren in Weyers Cave, Virginia. Hosted by Pastor Harry Jarrett.Join us in person or listen on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or Substack. Learn more about our congregation at pleasantvalleyalive.org Get full access to Harry Jarrett at pastorharryjarrett.substack.com/subscribe