A Widow’s Hope in Late-Life Spousal Loss: A Biblical Response to Meaning-Making and Continuing Spiritual Bonds

Abstract

Widowhood is considered one of the most stressful and life-altering experiences that can cause a loss of meaning and purpose in life. Bereavement brings mortality to the forefront, raising questions related to life’s existential meanings. In recent years, there has been a broadening interest in the role of spiritual beliefs in coping with the death of a loved one and how it facilitates a quest for meaning in the grief and bereavement process, especially for elderly widows in late-life spousal loss. Bereaved elderly widows are compelled to contend with a meaning-making process that involves making sense of the events leading to the death or around the death of their spouse, making sense of one’s relationship with their spouse, and making sense of one’s ongoing life after the death. Bereavement researchers have noted that spiritual beliefs, such as the belief that the deceased is in a better place or that the bereaved and deceased will someday reunite, can aid the meaning-making process and mitigate bereavement-related issues.

This dissertation argues that elderly Christian widows who experience late-life spousal loss can find consolation through bereavement-related issues by developing a biblical response to meaning-making and continuing spiritual bonds through the doctrine of union with Christ. Chapter 1 sets forth the thesis and presents traditional and contemporary bereavement care of widows in late-life spousal loss. Chapter 2 provides a critical analysis of contemporary theories of grief and bereavement and their influences on the modern understanding of death. Chapter 3 expounds on the effects of meaning-making in bereavement related to spousal loss and describes several core features associated with aspects of sense-making and benefit-finding. Chapter 4 outlines various meaning-making adjustments and outcomes for elderly widows in late-life spousal loss. Chapter 5 discusses the biblical and theological foundations for the care of widows throughout the Old and New Testaments. Chapter 6 discusses a biblical meaning-making model of counseling and care for elderly Christian widows in a late-life spousal loss that makes the doctrine of union with Christ prominent in the church. Chapter 7 concludes this work, emphasizing the doctrine of union with Christ for Christians who experience the death of a loved one. The church can provide public preaching and personal counseling on the doctrine of union with Christ so that bereaved Christians can abstain from grieving as those with no hope (1 Thess 4:13).