Like a stone skipping on the water, sorrow has rippled through us as close friends within our church family have lost someone they dearly loved. I do not exaggerate when I write that nearly every week for the last two months we have known someone who has died. I have written more sympathy cards in one month than I had ever written in my lifetime. With these occasions, words are so difficult to find. But, after weeping, and listening, an aptly spoken word can comfort.
On our vacation this summer, my husband brought along a book titled "Lament for a Son" by Nicholas Wolterstorff. A friend had given it to him. Out of curiosity, I picked it up and started reading it. It has greatly impacted me. It is my amazing lot not to know loss of a loved one - all of my grandparents and my immediate family members are still here with us. Thus, this book gave me a keyhole view of what grief might look like. As the title suggests, Nicholas Wolterstorff lost his son at age 25 and "Lament" is his journal as he grieved his loss. His writing gave me a new perspective on death, and more importantly, a greater appreciation for Jesus.
One entry I would like to share with you is this : "Standing on a hill in Galilee Jesus said to his disciples : Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted...How strange, how incredibly strange!...Why cheer tears?...Who then are the mourners? The mourners are those who have caught a glimpse of God's new day, who ache with all their being for that day's coming, and who break out into tears when confronted with its absence. They are the ones who realize that in God's realm of peace there is no one blind and who ache whenever they see someone unseeing. They are the ones who realize that in God's realm there is no one hungry and who ache whenever they see someone starving. They are the ones who realize that in God's realm there is no one falsely accused and who ache whenever they see someone imprisoned unjustly. They are the ones who realize that in God's realm there is no one who fails to see God and who ache whenever they see someone unbelieving. They are the ones who realize that in God's realm there is no one who suffers oppression and who ache whenever they see someone beat down. They are the ones who realize that in God's realm there is no one without dignity and who ache whenever they see someone treated with indignity. They are the ones who realize that in God's realm of peace there is neither death nor tears and who ache whenever they see someone crying tears over death. The mourners are aching visionaries."
Stick with me, because he completes this thought : "Such people Jesus blesses; he hails them, he praises them, he salutes them. And he gives them the promise that the new day for whose absence they ache will come. They will be comforted. The Stoics of antiquity said : Be calm. Disengage yourself. Neither laugh nor weep. Jesus says : Be open to the wounds of the world. Mourn humanity's mourning, weep over humanity's weeping, be wounded by humanity's wounds, be in agony over humanity's agony. But do so in the good cheer that a day of peace is coming." I do not want to miss the opportunity to sit on the mourning bench beside someone who weeps.
As I volunteered in my son's first grade class today I overheard them reporting what they saw on the election coverage. "Many people were crying," one boy noticed. We so deeply want things to be right. We all, at our core, want restoration and we know so many things, including death, is wrong. I am also learning that humanity must grieve any major change or loss - a broken relationship, a broken career, a broken home. If we read the Psalms, and the song-writer's laments, we see that in troubled times, faith is our anchor. Faith allows us to walk on stormy waters if we keep our eyes on Jesus.
Comforter, in your Word, Psalm 126 says : "Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him." You promise comfort and give us hope. May we see your heart to restore the things that are so broken now. Amen
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