Jenny Smith and Justin White on Poetry and Grief

The Well QA Podcast

Our guests on The Well QA Podcast are author/pastor Jenny Smith and pastor Justin White to discuss grief.

Rev. White is the pastor at Stanwood UMC. He is a spiritual director and retreat leader as well as the former chair of The Well’s board. Pastor Justin’s dad passed away unexpectedly last fall. He understands grief from the side of walking with others through it and as someone amidst it.

When faced with unexpected loss, pain and grief set up camp in our bodies and we don’t always know how to talk about what we’re experiencing, especially in the first year of loss. Jenny Smith's Still Here is a collection of poems for those trying to make sense of the fragility and terror of losing a loved one. We name the shock, wade into the everyday nuances of grief, and eventually take tentative steps into the land of the living again, only to discover love never dies. Somehow their love is still here, dancing with our every breath. Still Here is an honest reckoning with the pain and frustration of grief while journeying toward surprising healing.

Written by a poet and pastor Jenny Smith who unexpectedly lost her youngest brother, she captures the ache of loss and the complexity of healing as her family travels the first year together. As she braves the unbearable with curiosity and trust, we’re invited to unravel the grief that awaits each of us, in the hope that love never dies.

Thank you to Jenny Smith and Justin White for being on the show!