Monday Morning Conversations with Nancy and Dan

Chosen, Blessed, Broken, and Served: How Henri Nouwen and The Wailin’ Jennys are Keeping Hope Alive with our guest MICHAEL CITRINI, Guest Bio Michael is a resident of Raleigh, North Carolina, He enjoyed a thirty-three year career in School Counseling within the North Carolina public school system. Throughout his career, Michael primarily served middle and high school students and their families, helping young people navigate academic, social, and personal challenges.Michael also served as an Instructional Specialist with Wake County Public Schools (WCPSS), where he facilitated Restorative Practice Circles for students, faculty, and staff across elementary, middle, and high schools. In addition, he led trainings in the Community Resiliency Model (CRM), a skills-based program designed to help individuals regulate and restore balance to their nervous systems, fostering greater resilience and well-being.Michael earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Wake Forest University and a Master of Education in School Counseling from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He later completed a Master of Pastoral Studies degree at Loyola University New Orleans and became a Certified Spiritual Director ten years ago.Michael currently serves on the Spiritual Direction teams at Edenton Street Methodist Church in Raleigh, NC and Saint Francis Springs Prayer Center in Stoneville, NC. In his free time, he enjoys photographing natural landscapes, leading retreats, writing poetry, and volunteering at Saint Francis Springs Prayer Center. Michael has three sisters and is a proud uncle of three nieces, six nephews, two great-nieces, and three great-nephews.

One of the things that isn't often discussed are all the effects of grief. We hear about depression and the effect of grief on our mental health however, there are also physical manifestations of grief. It certainly was not something I was aware of after Leah died. Losing a loved one is extremely stressful, and can take a toll in unexpected ways. According to the National Institutes of Health, grief can cause everything from bodily pain and a weakened immune system to stomach upset and fatigue,

Topic: The Sweet Burden: Grief as a Teacher to Weave BelongingBio: From her youngest days, Kate Towle has been an advocate for racial equity. As a child, she worked alongside her father and his Black friend to build a vibrant interracial community center in Michigan City, Indiana. She has organized and delivered numerous talks and workshops to help people start a racial and ethnic healing process where they live, work, and learn, often co-leading sessions with colleagues of color.She lives in Minneapolis, MN, where racial tensions after the murder of George Floyd swept across the nation. She was the winner of the St. Paul Foundation’s Facing Race Idea Challenge in 2011 and wrote about her groundbreaking interracial work with high school students in Talking About Race: Alleviating the Fear (2013).With her friend Rose McGee, she engaged young leaders in building the organization Sweet Potato Comfort Pie, which wraps cross-community dialogue and healing around baking and delivering the pies that symbolize caring and connection in Black culture.Kate’s novel Sweet Burden of Crossing about interracial friendship has helped people of all ages speak candidly about their life experiences and biases in peer conversations, as discussed in a recent Democratic Visions interview. She helps communities see how sharing stories, service, and honoring each person’s gifts can heal longstanding divides. She co-leads the Weave Peace and Justice subcommunity

This episode is about the how you can help someone by asking questions. You can do this to create a comfort zone that allows true communication. When you face the loss of someone or something important to you, you may tend to isolate. By simply asking a question you can make the experience of loss a little easier to handle.

Searching but not finding understanding is the line I sometimes dwell on. This episode explores the masks that disguise or dissuade us from recognizing the pattern of grief that we are wearing. What do we mean by disguises of grief? After doing this work for some time, and walking my own grief journey for almost 25 years, I've come to realise that some of the actions we use disguise our grief. We do it to suppress grief because we don't like to feel the feelings that arise when we meet our grief.

Jenn Closi’s husband, Phil died of COVID related complications while serving in Southern Nevada. Jenn describes her efforts to get her husband recognized for his sacrifice. She faced opposition to honoring his heroism. Her work with the Southern Nevada Concerns of Police Survivors is highlighted as she assists those who face similar recognition for the sacrifice of their spouses. Jenn’s story is moving and thought provoking when those who serve us pay the ultimate price to keep us safe.