Finding Peace in the Empty Places

In just a couple of days, families will gather around tables filled with food, laughter, and stories. Yet for many, this week feels different. There’s an empty place where a loved one once sat — a silence that speaks louder than any words. Thanksgiving, which once brought comfort and togetherness, can now stir a deep ache of longing. We wonder how can we begin finding peace in the empty places?

If this is your story, please know you’re not alone. Grief has a way of showing up even when we wish it wouldn’t. It can move quietly through familiar traditions and memories, reminding us of what once was. And while the world celebrates, you might simply be trying to hold your heart together — and that’s okay.

Finding peace in the empty places doesn’t mean the pain disappears. It means allowing space for both sorrow and gratitude to exist side by side. Peace often comes in small, sacred moments — in the warmth of a candle flicker, the whisper of a prayer, or the memory of your loved one’s laughter that suddenly feels like a gift instead of a wound. It’s in recognizing that even though the chair may be empty, love still fills the room.

Give yourself permission to feel what you feel. If you need to cry, cry. If you want to laugh at a memory, laugh. You can be grateful and grieving at the same time. Gratitude doesn’t erase sorrow; it gently weaves light into the darkness, reminding us that love remains.

This Thanksgiving, may grace find you in unexpected ways. May peace settle softly in your heart, and may hope remind you that even in loss, you are deeply loved — by those who walk beside you, and by the God who holds you close.