Mourning?

I’m learning that just because you feel or wrestle with something once doesn’t mean you’ll never do so again. Most people experience several recurring feelings and questions as they grieve, sometimes as if it’s for the first time. As C. S. Lewis observed after losing his wife, “For in grief nothing ‘stays put.’ One keeps on emerging from a phase, but it always recurs. Round and round. Everything repeats.”

As crazy as it makes me feel sometimes, I’m learning that I need to mourn. According to Jesus, comfort awaits the griever (Matthew 5:4). I’m learning that leaning into the pain of loss opens me up to lean on God and others for comfort.

Finally, I’m learning that Paul was right when he wrote that Christians grieve with hope. For it’s the hope of seeing our loved ones again when Jesus returns that helps to make bitter loss bearable (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17).