What if grief is a skill, in the same way that love is a skill, something that must be learned and cultivated and taught?
With counseling and ceremony, Stephen Jenkinson has for a quarter century been guiding individuals, couples, families and communities through all the human sufferings, sorrows and confusions in life. He is a Harvard-trained theologian, a sculptor and a traditional canoe builder. Stephen is also the subject of the National Film Board documentary Griefwalker, a lyrical, poetic portrait of his work with dying people.
Whether sitting at the bedside of a dying woman, or speaking to clinicians dedicated to delaying death, Stephen bears a message that most do not want to hear: that death is not something to be denied or avoided but “befriended.” He has even sometimes been called the “angel of death.” His extraordinary claim is that “death is the cradle of your love of life.”
We speak with Stephen Jenkinson, in a full-program conversation about life, death, grieving, and the Canadian culture.
