Today I watched a woman bury her husband. She trembled as she stood beside the casket, as though the sheer weight of her grief would cause her to collapse. He was a good man, and in the wake of his passing she has been left scathingly alone. She said goodbye to a part of herself today, and all I could do was stand and watch.
Today I watched a young man bury his father. His voice wavered as he spoke that final goodbye, though his dignity and strength were steady and strong. He spoke of fond memories, the distant echoes of a way of life which would never be again. As he looked at the golden wood of that cruel box which held the hollow shell of his world and spoke that final “I love you”, all I could do was stand back and watch.
Today I watched my father bury his friend. A small smile crossed his face as he mentioned past camaraderie and laughter, though his eyes reflected sorrow. His inner turmoil remained unseen as he grieved for the loss of a brother, and he stood strong in order to allow the grief of others to flow freely. Haunting memories whispered in his ear, memories of other goodbyes quietly demanding to be heard, and all I could do was stand back and watch.
Today I buried a man. I wept openly from where I sat; wept for the family, wept for the friends, wept for myself. I wept out of empathy for the pain of those who had been left behind. I wept out of fear of one day saying goodbye to those whom I love. I wept out of my own silent pain, wanting so badly to forget those cherished memories which silently bind me to another casket.
Yet for all the tears, memories, and pain, there is hope. We have placed our faith in the One who is faithful, and the day will come when our tears will be no more. But until that day comes, we wait and we grieve for those relationships which have been cut so cruelly short. We grieve for those whose pain is so real and overwhelming. We grieve for we were not made for this. The day will come when the Almighty will overthrow death and the evil one by His own power. The day has already passed when He died in our place, and by His stripes we have been healed. He saw what we had done to ourselves, the tears and pain we had inflicted upon ourselves, and He took it upon Himself to intervene and give us the gift of hope.
I am so glad He did not just stand back and watch.
1 comment:
you are an amazing writer, I believe we all have our own unique way of putting things but few can communicate it well to everyone, you can though, you are blessed and gifted and I still see you my goofy cousin with whom I run though walmart at ungodly hours of the night and get kicked out of parks with, I love you and miss you bunches, Joe-Joe
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