Sorrow and Hope

Today I'm thinking about sadness. When my grandfather died, my father said to me, “I just thought I would not have to give up someone else this year.” Those were some of the saddest words I have ever heard. Mother had died the July before and now it was January and we were standing in a cold cemetery as the dirt filled over the coffin of my maternal grandfather. Not long before all this, a family friend had committed suicide, leaving a husband and four daughters. On top of all that, I had just gotten married to my husband, Don, a happy event for all concerned, but it represented change. And, change seems to bring a certain kind of sadness even in the midst of great happiness.
So, this morning after I had talked and prayed with a grieving friend whose brother had just committed suicide, I felt like I had been on this wilderness journey before.
What do you say to someone who is facing such unfathomable sorrow? A pat answer doesn't give real comfort to a broken heart. If we celebrate birth as a natural aspect of life, then honestly, we must embrace death as an apparently unequal partner in this rhythm of life. One brings great joy and the other leaves us lost in sorrow. Both are bookended by questions.
Just today, I was reading a devotional that said faith is believing that the past is gone, the present is just today but eternity is forever. Eternity is a door that opens to a place where there are no walls. While that is a lovely thought for the future, the present is filled with doors that open and shut and lock and walls that keep us locked in, locked out, or just keep us from seeing farther than our own reality.
However, it is so hard to look up from the sadness that surrounds us and threatens to engulf us and it turns out just to be irritating background noise to the magnificent symphony of Heaven. How I long to hear that eternal, sweet music that will leave this sadness miles behind.
So, I guess the words the Apostle Paul penned so many years ago to the Thessalonian Christians become the words of encouragement I need today: “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with you all.” 2 Thessalonians 3:16 NIV

I do plead for that sweet unfathomable peace that I might hear the eternal music of heaven rising from the ashes of my sorrow today.