The Gift of This Day: Meditations for the Grieving Heart presents 143 short reflections for individuals coping with loss, along with the professionals who support them.
Few human experiences are as universal as grief, yet few feel as lonely. The Gift of This Day: Meditations for the Grieving Heart, the follow-up volume in Spike Humer's meditation series from SoulWord Press, serves as a daily companion for those enduring loss.
This work originated as a prayer intended for a single family. In 2025, friends of Humer and his wife, Michele, experienced the death of their son, Josh. “There is no language adequate for a loss like that,” Humer says. “No framework. No fix. There is only presence — the willingness to sit beside someone in their sorrow. I knew the only thing I could offer was what I know how to give: words. Not answers. Not repair.”
Josh's name is deliberately retained within the book. Readers are encouraged to substitute the name of their own loved one wherever his appears.
This collection features 143 meditations, each occupying a single page, crafted to fit the limited attention span that grief typically allows. It explores three recurring themes: What I'm Carrying, addressing the burden of sorrow and the love contained within it; What I'm Noticing, focusing on unexpected moments of grace that still emerge; and What I'm Returning To, the gradual process of reconnecting with oneself. The book avoids promising any specific timeline or offering a checklist of stages.
An excerpt:
When the Wave Arrives Without Warning
Thank you for the gift of this day.
Please hold me through this one that came out of nowhere.
I was doing something ordinary — folding laundry, standing in the grocery store, driving to an appointment — when it arrived. Without warning. Without permission. The wave that makes the ordinary world impossible.
Please help me not be ashamed of this. It comes when it comes. There is no controlling it and no predicting it. It does not mean I am getting worse. It means I loved someone.
May I breathe through this one and meet the next.
The meditations are designed for individuals mourning a spouse, parent, child, sibling, friend, or pet, in addition to those grieving losses that lack a formal funeral — such as the end of a marriage, a career, a decline in health, or a lifelong aspiration. The book is also being distributed to hospice programs, chaplains, grief counselors, and recovery communities.
The Gift of This Day: Meditations for the Grieving Heart is available in paperback (177 pages, $15.99) and Kindle editions via Amazon, and through IngramSpark to booksellers and libraries. A facilitator's guide for group and institutional use is in development.
ABOUT SOULWORD PRESS
SoulWord Press is an independent press specializing in contemplative works centered on presence, personal growth, and inner life. Its offerings include the I Am Becoming journal series and The Gift of This Day meditation series. Additional information is available at SoulWordPress.com.
For review copies, interview requests, or additional information, please contact:
Spike Humer
BrightKey PR
spike@soulwordpress.com
