"Comfort all who mourn. Give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." (Isaiah 61:3 paraphrase)
The Prophet is anticipating the good news of God's deliverance. Of what does deliverance consist for us [-- those who are grieving]? Not that the situation will change and our loved one be restored to us. We know better than to hope for that. But maybe to be delivered from some of this pain, so that our existence is no longer shadowed by our loss, and the beauty of the world is no longer just a reminder that the one we shared it with is gone. From that - yes - we can hope to be delivered.
We have but to look around us and see the many others who have suffered losses. They are legion. They walk the streets with us, get on and off the bus, shop with us in the stores. They have survived. And some of them have been made stronger and are now pillars of support for others.
When we shall have been delivered from our deepest grief -- by the help of friends, by faith, by time, by work to which we can return with a heightened sensibility -- then we, too, shall experience "beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness," and be a blessing to those who need us.
-- Martha Whitmore Hickman in Healing After Loss
#2393
Thursday, October 8, 2009
2 comments:
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ThANKS NEEDED THIS!!!!! Know what sometimes I think you are talking directly to me no one elese becasue what is said is what I need for where I am at that day!!! Thank-you God.
ReplyDeleteChristine B. in California
That is really awesome. I went to a seminar a week ago on grief. It spoke of this.
ReplyDeleteSandra L. Korth, Wisconsin