Lisa Irish

Lisa Irish, MEd, MA, BCC incorporates her experience in chaplaincy, spiritual direction and her own journey to guide the way in the Land of Loss. As former bereavement coordinator for Yale-New Haven Hospital and the Hospital of St Raphael, she ministered to individuals, groups and community organizations. Of her book, Grieving – the Sacred Art: Hope in the Land of the Loss, Fr. Richard Rohr says….”the roadmap is wise, but sensitive – grounded in hope – and reminds us to rest in God’s healing love.” Lisa shares her understanding of grief, healing and hope through rich retreat programs and in regular messages found at www.lisairish.com. "Grieving with a Grateful Heart," Abbey Press. "Finding Healing in Times of Grief and Loss" (contributing author) Abbey Press "Grief - the Sacred Art," Skylight Paths Publishing in 2018.

Articles:

The Last Christmas Stocking

The First Christmas Stocking The first Christmas stocking I ever made was in 1960. I was 10 years old and living in Walnut Creek, California with my parents, Ted and Lillian. We didn’t have too many Christmas rituals, no church services or Advent candles. There was a china nativity set. It was small, but had all the important characters. We had a tree, of course. And my stocking. That red felt stocking was put up every year and I found it filled up every Christmas morning. As the Christmas of 1960 approached, my mom said, “This will be Daddy’s last […]

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Conscious Grieving

Note: Lisa Irish is offering an online workshop on Jan. 28, 2023. For more information,  https://www.lisairish.com/event/attending-to-grief-hope-in-a-changing-world/ What is Conscious Grieving? Most people think grief is something to be endured or fixed.  We attend support groups, for example, to get grief to go away. We stay busy to push the feelings aside. When friends say, “Maybe it’s time to move on,” we are outraged. “How could anyone impose a timetable on my grief?” But at the same time, we wonder the same thing, “Shouldn’t I be doing better by now? How do I heal from this grief?” I seek to rearrange […]

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Promptings of Hope

After a long, cold New England winter, I find myself on the lookout for any sign of Spring … a crocus peeking out of the melting snow, a slight haze of color in the trees across the lake, my own spirits lifting. These promptings … encouragements, reminders…return each year to help me make the transition from winter to spring. If I listen, as one listens for the voice off-stage with the line I keep forgetting, I find the guidance I need to survive the last days of winter’s chill. Promptings have appeared in my work with those who grieve, as […]

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Hope in the Land of Loss

The bright, blue sky surrounded the scene, it filled the moment with light. I looked up to see the somber funeral men, leading each of us past the casket. One gave me the carnation from his jacket, as I stood before the big, dark casket where my father’s body lay hidden. I was eleven. How could I look at the sky, when I couldn’t take my eyes off his cradle of death? This moment held me captive for over forty years. My heart had been trapped in the Land of Loss, searching for a way out. Other details in my […]

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Returning to the Land of Loss: ‘Enfranchising’ our Grief

My cousin died last year, at least that’s how it felt for me. She actually died seven years ago, so my delayed sojourn into Loss has been very private…very lonely. Let me explain. I grew up in California and made family trips to Seattle to see my three cousins: Sarah, Susan and Sally. I am without siblings, so these three were very special in my little girl years. Adult life took us all over the country, I landed on the east coast. My contact with them changed as our lives changed, but periodic calls and visits always mattered to me. […]

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Open to  hope

Lisa Irish: Spirituality and Grief

In this enlightening episode of the Open to Hope Foundation show, Drs. Gloria and Heidi Horsley discuss loss and hope with Lisa Irish. When Irish was only two years old, her mother was paralyzed in a car accident, which drastically altered Irish’s childhood. Her father died when she was 11 and, in her 20s, her mother passed away. Irish says she learned from an early age to see life through a “lens of loss” and has found it to be a great teacher. Today, Irish is a chaplain and serves as a bereavement coordinator at the Yale-New Haven Hospital. People […]

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Open to  hope

Joan Rivers’ Death Highlights Value of Advance Directives

Joan Rivers’ recent, and sudden, death highlights the value of completing Advance Directives. Hopefully, her family knew her wishes for any time she was not able to speak for herself. Their end-of-life decisions, then, would be directed by Joan’s values instead of their own fears and feelings. Advance Directives (AD) is the “umbrella” document that covers the following end-of-life choices: • Healthcare Agent/Proxy or Representative – the most important element of AD, this decision names the person(s) that will speak for you if you are not able to speak for yourself. This person has talked with you, understands your wishes […]

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Open to  hope

Responding to Loss: Moving On, Moving Forward, Moving In

Perhaps you have heard the phrase, “Maybe it’s time to move on…” These words are actually offered as (presumed) words of comfort to grieving people! I still shake my head at the idea that this is said by a friend or family member to someone who is hurting. Move on…to me this suggests “moving away from” as in packing your bags and boxes and leaving. Or it suggests making a switch from one thing to another, as in “I don’t like that sushi restaurant, let’s try the new one down the street.” I don’t understand how one can “move on” […]

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Open to  hope

The Chauffeur’s Flower: Memories of an Early Loss

The day of my father’s funeral stands out in my mind. I remember blue sky and sunshine. It was six days after my eleventh birthday. At the end of the day, the chauffeur from the limousine handed me a carnation he had been wearing. I took it home, pressed it and always remembered the kindness of that moment in the midst of a big feeling of emptiness. My dad had been sick for a while. In fact, the Christmas before this July day, my mother announced “this would be Daddy’s last Christmas.” But that is a story for another time. […]

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