Something sad has happened in our congregation and it has me thinking of darker, sadder things. It wasn’t anything grand or thrilling. It wasn’t anything that someone would jump to write about. There wasn’t even the thrill we sometimes wickedly seek in sin or seeing a sinner’s downfall. It is real life in this fallen, death-ridden world. It is loss and pain and uncertainly and the trauma of life support for a beloved young man.
While our days go on in the midst of myriad vulnerabilities, I thought about how novels sometimes are mimicking life in part to emotionally prepare us for the unknowns ahead. Guiding us toward answers and lessons we finally learn when we experience the grief or pain first hand. At the same time . . .
Sometimes all I can do is still hope for words for the situation. For the people I love. For the people I am moved with compassion for. My desire is for words and for words to somehow help, comfort, encourage, and strengthen.
When we struggle to find words in that moment when unthinkable things happen, maybe there aren’t human words that can do justice. I want there to be words, but so much happens that was simply never intended. We face experiences we were not created to handle.
God is the only one who can answer, and He does. He sees the way a mortal, death-ridden life mimics the life He intended for us, and He refuses to allow sin, death, and the devil to have the last word.
Our Lord sets choice words into books and letters for us.Then, He sent His Word in the flesh.
Come, Lord Jesus. Have mercy.
I know people speculate about the end of the world, especially given how accepted and encouraged unnatural things have become. Part of me, however, wonders about an additional factor. As the population grows, I think about how much we grieve the dead and cry out for life—real life—to be restored.
“[F]or the sake of the elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days [of the tribulation]” (Mark 13:20).
Morituro satis est
Very thoughtful and insightful reflections, Mary. Yes, we are helpless in the face of awful things that happen, and the only words that comfort and make sense are God’s words, the Word. And that may simply mean us being wordless, just being with someone who is suffering and letting the Holy Spirit speak through our silence and love. Our natural inclination is to ‘fix’ things. The intention comes from compassion but we need to have wisdom and discern when to speak and when to be quiet. Our understanding is so limited! The inexplicable will be revealed when we see Him face to face. In the meantime, we just cling to Him like the little children we are.
Thank you, June. Exactly.