Foggy morning

I went to work in a fog this morning.

Just before going out the door my husband, who had quickly perused the obituaries, informed me that an acquaintance had passed away suddenly while on vacation. He was 53.

My mind immediately went back to the last moment I had spoken with this now deceased man - a great guy - and his wife. We had been standing in a very long line in a funeral home and some of our reflections together had been how so many younger people that we have known have passed away. In a few days, this man's family will gather in the same funeral home, perhaps even in that very room, to mourn his passing.

I drove to work in a blur, sat down at my desk blinking back tears, took a deep breath, and wanted to curl up in a fetal position and sob for this man's wife and his two sons, though I really don't know them well.

Death and separation stinks. We feel helpless when it happens and we can't change it. Some days it seems just too hard to handle. Grieving can last for such a very long time. We can't just 'snap out of it'. Life seems to grind to a halt. The sadness of the loss can be triggered very suddenly by memories, music, sounds, even smells, long after we think we should be moving on with life. Over time the memories will become happy ones to revisit, but for now, they elicit pain. But grieving is necessary. Weeping is necessary to bring healing. And friends need to stand alongside, grieving with the heartbroken, interceding for peace and hope to uphold them.

There is One who is very acquainted with grief and with death. He grieves alongside and will never leave us. Death makes us feel very alone, but we can trust that He is as close as the next breath we take, for as long as we breathe....and then for eternity. Here we live in an imperfect world of which death is a part. But it is the unseen world that is far more real than anything we can fathom.

Eternity.

Hope.

Expectation.

Reunion.

Right now life can be foggy. But then....we shall see clearly. Hope will be realized....and loved ones embraced.

We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright!
We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him
directly just as he knows us! But for right now, until that
completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation:
Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of
the three is love.

(I Corinthians 13: 12-13 The Message Bible)

(Note: The above photo is the work of Giuseppe Andrea Mosca. Click on the picture to see more of his stunning work on Flickr. Thank you Giuseppe. This photo captures such a beautiful thought!)