Widowhood: a Doorway to Calling and Conversion: Turn Your Mourning into Dancing

By Elizabeth Jacks Scott

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jan 5, 2010
• ISBN: 9781462828784

Elizabeth Jacks Scott

Elizabeth Jacks Scott, MA, M.Div., MSW, CSW Elizabeth Jacks Scott practiced Psychotherapy and Family Therapy in New York City for over two decades, ran grief groups at St. Bartholomew’s Church for seven years, and co-founded Hudson Valley Weddings at The Hill. She is an ordained Interfaith Minister and a clinical social worker. She is a 1962 graduate of Vassar College and holds a master’s in history from the University of Chicago, a degree in Social Work from the Hunter College School of Social Work as well as Masters of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary. She holds a certificate in Family Therapy from the Hunter College Post Graduate Program and a certificate in psychoanalysis from the Object Relations Institute of New York City. She is a graduate of the One Spirit Seminary in New York City and the author of WIDOWHOOD: DOORWAY TO CALLING AND CONVERSION. She is a member of a number of non-profit boards, some to help prevent homelessness in New York City. She lives with her husband in New York City, the Hudson Valley, and the coast of Maine. Combined with her husband, they have four children and eight grandchildren. 4/26/21: Elizabeth Jacks Scott, author, coach, and minister. Practiced psychotherapy and family therapy in New York City for two decades, former grief group leader at St. Bartholomew’s Church, cofounder of Hudson Valley Weddings at the Hill. Ordained interfaith minister and clinical social worker. Vassar College BA, the University of Chicago MA, Hunter College School of Social Work MSW and Union Theological Seminary M.Div. Certificates in family therapy from the Hunter College postgraduate program and in psychoanalysis from the Object Relations Institute of New York City. Graduate of the One Spirit Seminary in New York City. Author of Widowhood: Doorway to Calling and Conversion. Member of nonprofit boards including Society for the Relief of Women and Children, and the Emma Adams Fund. She and her husband reside in New York City, the Hudson Valley, the coast of Maine and combined have four children and eight grandchildren.

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Copyright © 2009 by Elizabeth Jacks Scott.

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Contents

INTRODUCTION

DESCRIPTION OF WIDOWHOOD

PSALM OF LAMENT,

A MODEL OF THE GRIEF PROCESS

THEORIES TO EXPLAIN CONVERSION

THROUGH THE DARKNESS

PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OF BEING FOUND THROUGH THE LAMENT

SUMMARY AND THESIS WIDOWHOOD:

A DOORWAY TO CALLING AND CONVERSION

NEW LIFE FOR WIDOWS

ENDNOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION

"Fear not, for you will not be ashamed;

           be not confounded, for you will not be put to shame;

for you will forget the shame of your youth,

           and the reproach of your widowhood you will

                      remember no more.

For your Maker is your husband,

           the Lord of hosts is his name;

and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,

           the God of the whole earth he is called.

For the Lord has called you

           like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,

like a wife of youth when she is cast off,

           says your God.

For a brief moment I forsook you,

           but with great compassion I will gather you.

In overflowing wrath for a moment I hid my face from you,

but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,

                              says the Lord, your Redeemer.

(Isaiah 54:4-8)¹

Isaiah 54 graphically depicts the spiritual journey of a widow from forsakenness to having your Maker as your husband. It is a journey from feeling the reproach of one’s widowhood to the experience of being gathered and loved. It is an experience of being abandoned and being found.

What is this experience of widowhood so poignantly described in Isaiah 54? This is a crucial question because so many widows become paralyzed with grief and die within a short time after their spouses die, and many more retreat into isolation and reduced living. This is a far different picture than the one sung about in Isaiah, which sings praises to God for newness of life and newness of joy where the reproach of widowhood will be remembered no more.

In the midst of my own forsakenness as a widow, I made a vow that if ever again I saw the light, I would go back and hold the hands of others through the darkness because no one should ever have to suffer such alone. I now know that the one who holds the hand of the widow in the darkness is one’s Maker and one’s Redeemer. Human agency, however, has an important if not decisive role in the process.

Through being found, gathered, loved and redeemed, my spirit has come to the light. This book is dedicated to discerning some of the mechanisms, the experiences, the steps, the ideas and the people that have pulled me through with the profound trust that in some way my experience may be used to assist in the holding of others’ hands.

In particular, I would like to credit and thank Union Theological Seminary for being a source of grace to me and so many.

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DESCRIPTION OF WIDOWHOOD

According to Webster’s