Today is Good Friday, a sacred day in the Christian calendar and one that holds special significance for me and my family.<\/p>\n
It was on Good Friday 17 years ago that my older brother Frank was injured in a motorbike accident that left him with paraplegia, unable to ever walk again. And it was on Good Friday, 15 years ago, that my youngest brother Peter ended his life after a long battle with mental illness. After Peter’s death, Frank joked that perhaps we should rename it\u00a0<\/span>Bad Friday<\/em>.<\/p>\n Of course, we haven\u2019t. Not because it doesn\u2019t hold painful memories, but because at the heart of Good Friday\u2014and the holy Easter season\u2014is the most eternal message of hope. Hope that however large our loss, our grief will ease. Hope that no matter how raw our heart, it will heal\u2014and that our life, while never the same, can be remade whole.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” type=”4_4″ theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/margiewarrell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/PD_0489.jpg” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” title_text=”PD_0489″ hover_enabled=”0″ admin_label=”My family late 70s\u2014pre the arrival of my sister Cath!” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” custom_margin=”-32px||-24px||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” type=”4_4″ theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″] My family late 70s\u2014pre the arrival of my sister Cath!<\/em><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” custom_margin=”||-24px||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” type=”4_4″ theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″] Of course, amid dark times, despair can knock hard on our door, tempting us to fall into self-pity, to blame, to rage at life, or cave to despair.<\/p>\n Why this? Why me? Why now? It\u2019s not fair!<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n Nope, life is not fair. It\u2019s why the times that wrench the hardest on your heart require you to sit with your sadness and nurse your aching heart\u2014embracing the full spectrum of your humanity and letting go of expectations of how your life should be. Because amid the ashes of shattered dreams and broken expectations lie the seeds of new beginnings–<\/p>\n To put down deeper roots into the soil of our lives.<\/p>\n To blossom in new ways.<\/p>\n To grow into new dimensions of our own humanity,<\/p>\n And become present to the sacred that flows along the deeper stream of life.<\/p>\n It is no small task to surrender our well-laid plans and trust that every struggle and disappointment, in every hardship and heartache, lies a silent invitation to live more deeply and love more bravely.<\/p>\n Yet it is perhaps the ultimate act of courage to keep our hearts wide open the full spectrum of human emotions, however raw they make us feel.<\/p>\n