Grieving Process A.) Compare and Contrast the Essay

Grieving Process

A.) Compare and contrast the grieving process as defined by Kubler-Ross and the story of Job with that of at least one other religion.

Within the biblical Book of Job, God and Satan strike a deal to test the faith of a prosperous farmer, afflicting him with a series of calamities to test Satan's proposition that Job is pious simply because God has erected a "wall around" him of worldly blessings. The tragedies which soon befall Job, including the loss of his wealth, his livestock and ultimately his offspring, should in all likelihood result in an overwhelming sense of grief and loss, however, Job displays stoicism throughout his ordeal. Job's refusal to succumb to the self-pity that grief so often produces can be compared to the Kubler-Ross model of stages of grief, because Job appears to cycle through each of the Kubler -Ross model's five distinct stages of grieving. Initially, Job remains in denial as to the situation which has befallen him, stating aloud "Naked I came out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return: Lord has given, and Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of Lord" (Job 1:15-22). As the afflictions imposed on him intensify, Job's outlook eventually devolves into anger, and he laments that "The hand of God has struck me" (Job 19:21).The third stage of grief according to Kubler -Ross theory, bargaining, appears more subtly, as Job makes visible displays of his unaltered faith in God, thus appealing to the Almighty to show a true member of His flock mercy. The depression stage of grieving is evident in the lamentations expressed by Job to his friends that "my breath is offensive to my wife" (Job 19:17). Finally, Job's acceptance of his plight occurs near the end of the parable, when Job responds to his wife's rebukes, "You speak as one of the foolish speaks. Moreover, shall we receive good from God and shall not receive evil?" (Job 2:10).

B.) Compare the relationship and interaction between joy and the above grieving models and examples.

In the wake of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross' landmark research on the process of grieving, her work has been both celebrated and criticized, with many modern experts including several other stages which fit around or replace Kubler-Ross' original framework. Psychoanalysts and other scientists concerned with studying the human mind's ability to cope with devastating loss have consistently encountered a vexing paradox: the fact that even after the death of a loved one a person may feel the emption of joy. Feelings….....