WATCHWORD:
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18
So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. John 16:22
Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. John 14:1
Meditation:
Revisiting Grief
As mentioned in yesterday’s Watchword Bulletin Board, my family has experienced the deaths, funerals or memorial services of four cherished loved ones, just in the past six weeks. Four days ago, I arrived home after more than two weeks in California, “being there” for my son and my grandkids, in the wake of my daughter-in-law’s death, trying to be wise and comforting. On the final leg of my flight home I found myself experiencing moments of anger, immediately followed by tears.
I’m a psychologist, and I’m not stupid, I know that I was on deep “over-load” of emotion. Feelings that I had been holding back over the past weeks. Here is the thing, it was a familiar feeling, like an old remembrance you didn’t want to see or feel again. Grief from more than six years ago at the loss of my dear wife, revisited, sticking its ugly head into this life of mine. Painful, yet familiar.
I believe in God and I believe in His promise of eternal life, and that we will be with our loved ones who are waiting in “the next room”, as was pointed out to me in the freshness of my own grief. Over these past weeks, I have prayed that all those who are affected by the loss of a loved one, share that faith and belief, and are comforted. To have that blessed assurance as light at a time when all around is darkness and sadness.
At the time of my wife’s passing, I wrote a brief essay that contained this thought, “Why am I at peace? Why am I not drowning in grief?” The answer lay in my faith. What a powerful reality!
How have you experienced grief that followed the loss of a loved one? As strange as it may seem, grief is related to love, the deeper the love, the more painful the grief. On the other hand, love is a gift from God, and, in a real sense, so is grief. A byproduct of grief can, in most cases, be empathy, an understanding of another’s pain of loss, that feeds compassion. And, I believe, that compassion can be a doorway to peace. That is what I believe and that is what I pray for all those who have lost a loved one. Amen.
In the Sweet By and By:
There’s a land that is fairer than day,
And by faith we can see it afar;
For the Father waits over the way
To prepare us a dwelling place there.
Refrain:
In the sweet by and by,
We shall meet on that beautiful shore;
In the sweet by and by,
We shall meet on that beautiful shore.
We shall sing on that beautiful shore
The melodious songs of the blessed;
And our spirits shall sorrow no more,
Not a sigh for the blessing of rest.
Refrain:
In the sweet by and by,
We shall meet on that beautiful shore;
In the sweet by and by,
We shall meet on that beautiful shore.
Closing Prayer:
At a time of loss, our prayers to the Lord are filled with thoughts of the one that is no longer with us. We mention their names for our own sake because God knows everything. We pray for their souls and that we will see them, yes, in the sweet by-and-by. And in praying for them, we think of them, we call to mind their humor, their compassion, their love, their graces, and in the recalling, we hold them close. Thank you, Precious Savior. Amen.
