How many times have you wondered where the journey ends and where the next journey will take you? We have all lost someone near and dear to us through natural causes, diseases, or tragedies. We go through periods of denial, anger, hopelessness, and sheer grief. We are comforted by friends and family, and none of us escape the religious cliches that are supposed to provide comfort. Then there are the people who tell us how to grieve and how long to grieve. How do we reconcile when the time is right? We weigh the pros and the cons. We go back and forth with uncertainty. We replay scenarios in our minds. We doubt it. We reconsider. We live.
It is often said that the best way to honor those that we lose is to live. We remember them through the impact that we make on the world. The last thing that our loved ones want is for us to go into a dark space to a point of no return. Recently, a pastor shared how the loss of his dad caused him to be angry enough with God that he wanted to give up the ministry. His father passed away in 2006, and he still feels deep heartache and grieves in 2023. Grieving may last for a lifetime, but we learn how best to handle it for ourselves.
So, how do we handle grief? Some may work hard during the week and play hard on the weekend. Some may mask the deep-rooted hurt and pretend that they don’t or can’t feel; they decide that emotions are non-existent and a waste of time because they reveal a weakness. Others may take every opportunity to tell everyone that they encounter about their loss. There is also a possibility of closing yourself off and sinking into the darkness of depression. The grieving pastor said that in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Paul gives us space and permission to grieve. In John 11:35, we are introduced to the shortest verse in the bible, “Jesus wept.” which gives us divine permission to cry.
But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen [a]asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, God will bring with Him those who [b]sleep in Jesus. For this, we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are [c]asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
Grieving sometimes brings a feeling of hopelessness. We are not to grieve as though there is no hope. “Hope balances the grief. While your grief is real, your hope will pull you through it, but your hope has to be grounded in your faith that Jesus died and rose again.” And so we don’t quit; we continue on the journey to see where it leads.
Coffee Reflections 