Ep. 081 – Can We Forgive the Unforgivable? Dr. Everette Worthington on Finding God Again
In this episode, Dr. Barbara Jean Sauvé welcomes back Dr. Everett Worthington for a sacred and deeply personal conversation about suicide loss in their immediate families and the spiritual aftermath that follows. Together, they explore the shock and fog of traumatic grief, the torment of “I should have known,” and how survivor’s guilt and moral injury can quietly create distance from God.
They discuss the difference between feeling guilty and actually being guilty, why grief bargaining sounds like “could’ve, should’ve, would’ve,” and how self-forgiveness requires truth, repair, and healing, not spiritual bypass. Dr. Worthington shares how he developed a pathway for self-forgiveness when his REACH model for interpersonal forgiveness was not enough, and what it means to make living amends when the person is gone. The conversation also names hidden anger at God, spiritual drift, embodied rituals of dignity, and the courage to “let God be God” in the questions that have no answers.
If you have walked through suicide loss, sudden tragedy, or any pain that feels like “this happened on my watch,” this episode offers compassionate clarity, practical steps for separating guilt from responsibility, and a Christ-centered path back to honest prayer, lament, and peace.
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