Day #2499

November 3, 2020

Tuesday’s Thoughts on Scripture comes from 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14: We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. (NRSV)

Grief is an odd thing. As someone recently said, we can be going along, coping pretty well until, all at once, grief hits us like the loss is fresh anew. Sometimes worse. Not having the physical presence of a person we care deeply about can be excruciating. Picking up the phone to call, only to remember they won’t be there to receive it can bring on the pain. Having something really good, or really bad, happen and want to talk to them can bring on the pain. A birthday, holiday, anniversary without them can bring on the pain (and I’m especially mindful of that this year when many of us won’t be able to gather anyway - if this is a first year, how much more difficult). 

Perhaps the words from 1 Thessalonians sound hollow to your ears and heart. It’s too soon, the feelings too raw. Yet the promise is there forever, whenever we can truly hear it. Through Jesus, we do not die without hope, nor do we experience the death of a loved one without hope. Nor will they experience leaving this earth without the promise of hope. One day gathered together to God with and through Jesus gives us all something to trust and hold onto regarding our, and their, eternal future. We will not be alone then, just as we are not alone now. 

If you are in the midst of fresh and raw grief, prayers for you. If you are experiencing a flood of emotion regarding a death from years ago, prayers for you. May the peace and promise of God surround and sustain you. Always.

Blessings. And prayers.