Life, Death and
Eternal Life
First,
I apologize for not having a reflection for the
Secondly
with one of the recently deceased being a family member I realized the impact
of words which are shared as someone grieves and what really is helpful or not.
Third,
I am grateful for my strong foundation of faith. I have wondered sometimes, if
you did not have faith in God, in the hope of the resurrection of Christ and
the promise of eternal life, how do you cope with the death of loved ones? How do you understand their impact on their
lives and what do people hold on to as they grieve?
The
words of Psalm 23 have meaning for many people with its phrases of comfort and
God leading them beside quiet waters. It is God who will restore our soul, our
hope, our spirit when we experience the death of loved ones. Because of
Christ’s resurrection there is life beyond what we experience here and we need
to praise God for this. But do we?
Sometimes
when we celebrate a person’s life we speak only of their earthly existence but
are we willing to talk about their faith- out loud and where by faith they are
now? Why is it we shy away from admitting we are God’s children in life and in
death? What are we afraid of?
As we
continue to grieve our loved one, I believe the words of the Psalmist which
describes the banquet table being prepared for us so that we might feast on
Gods blessings. We will also share this feasting table with those who don’t
believe but God will anoint us and bless us even more. All because we believe
and live for him.
What to
say to those who grieve? Hug, or say nothing. Words with no meaning are shallow
and a waste of time. Listen to those who grieve they need to tell their story.
They need to share about the one who has died whether you met them or not. The
funeral is not about you nor is it for the deceased. It is to assist the family
members of the deceased to cope with a new normal. A new life without the
physical presence of their loved one takes time and hard work.
May God
bless you as you support those who grieve and you who are grieving the death of
your loved ones- even after several years. God listens and knows where you are
and what you do.
READING: Psalm 23
Prayer: God of grace
and love be with those who are grieving, lonely and afraid of beginning a new
life with hope. Enable us to care and share our love as Christ also shared his
love. In the name of our Saviour, we pray. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment
please type your comments here.